In day 1 of legal tampering in the 2023 NFL offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson to replace Cameron Sutton. After a long while of ironing out the details, the term has been released. Peterson will be making $14 million over a two-year span, along with $5.85 million guaranteed. This turned out to be a much cheaper deal than what the Detroit Lions paid Sutton.
Bruce Kluckhohn / Associated Press
What's the difference between Sutton and Peterson, both as players and in contract?
Cameron Sutton was signed to a three-year deal at $11 million per season, while Peterson signed a two-year deal at $7 million per season. On a team that is lacking cap space (and shockingly has not done any restructures yet), the Steelers clearly wanted to go down the cheaper route, and they did so while still getting a quality cornerback, even if he's 33 years old.
Sutton is much younger than Peterson and is definitely more versatile. He's able to rotate between outside corner and slot corner, as well as playing safety in dime/prevent packages on defense while in a 3-safety set. Peterson, however, is strictly an outside cornerback with little flexibility position-wise, although he said on his podcast that he hopes to change that and be a plug-and-play guy. Both players are primarily man coverage corners, although the Steelers do like running a lot of zone coverage. Both players are very intelligent, so Peterson should be able to pick it up somewhat.
Sutton's deal includes a $10.9 million signing bonus, with similar numbers for his second and third years, with $1.1 million for his first season. There are two void years at the end of his deal, accounting for a $4.36 million dead cap during the first void year. The Steelers are currently paying Sutton $2.1 million in dead cap this year as well, so he'll be making more money off of the Steelers in 2023 than the Lions. Sutton becomes cuttable after June 1 in year 2, but he still doesn't leave much room for restructure or being a cap casualty.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Cam Sutton gets ready to board the team plane in 2022.
With Omar Khan continuing the tradition of not giving out guarantees past year 1, it's safe to say that Peterson will most likely only stay one season in Pittsburgh, barring a renaissance back to his elite days with the Arizona Cardinals and/or the unfortunate circumstance where whichever cornerback the Steelers draft doesn't develop well in year 1. Peterson has said that he wanted to retire a Steeler, however, so Peterson could stick around until the end of his 14th season, when he wants to hang his cleats.
Peterson will count for $4.225 million in 2023, and $9.775 million in 2024. There appears to not be a signing bonus, but there is a $3 million roster bonus for 2024, meaning if the Steelers do choose to cut him, he will be cut quickly, unlike any of the players in 2023 for the Steelers. There are no void years, but Peterson will count for $750,000 against the Minnesota Vikings cap for one void year. There would be a near $3 million cap hit if Peterson is cut next offseason.
Sutton was considered the leader of the cornerback group in Pittsburgh. Despite Peterson just showing up, he will likely take the role of leader of the group. Peterson will likely split time with whichever rookie corner that the Steelers draft, while also helping to coach that player up alongside Grady Brown and Teryl Austin. Peterson even played under Austin back in Arizona, so he knows what to expect from him. If Peterson can keep his production up and be a "coach on the field" for the younger corners, this would be an absolute bargain of a deal for a veteran cornerback that can start or provide needed depth.
What do you think of what the Steelers paid for Patrick Peterson, as well as what Cameron Sutton signed for to leave the team? Let us know down in the comments.
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