The Pittsburgh Steelers, under the direction of their new GM Omar Khan, have been making some moves to get free agency started. On the opening day of the tampering period, they lost cornerback Cam Sutton, who signed with Detroit Lions but they gained Patrick Peterson who was most recently with the Minnesota Vikings.
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Cam Sutton during warmups against the Buffalo Bills.
He was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft and was the best CB coming out and widely considered the best overall athlete. Peterson may be 32 but he still had plenty left in the tank. Well on his way to being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he made eight consecutive Pro Bowls while with the Arizona Cardinals. In his last season in Minnesota, he made sure everyone knew he wasn't done playing yet, still performing at a high level. During 2022, he had 66 tackles, five interceptions and 15 deflected passes. During his 12-year career, he has racked up the stats. He has 610 tackles, 537 solo tackles, 34 interceptions, four sacks, two forced fumbles and 11 fumble recoveries.
While Peterson has been a remarkable athlete, one of his most important stats isn't one that is usually talked about. That is the games he's missed due to injury. Peterson is known to take exceptional care of his body with diet, exercise and proper medical treatment, and it shows. During his first 11 seasons in the NFL, he never missed a game due to injury. That is almost unheard of for a CB like Peterson, who is flying all over the field.
Does The Steelers New CB Peterson Have Ulterior Motives?
On The Arthur Moats Experience, former Steelers linebackers Arthur Moats and Terrance Garvin discussed the Peterson signing.
"That's a mature corner, that's your Joe Haden. That's what Joe Haden was like, that's a mature corner that can come do a bunch of things," Garvin said. "You can do different things schematically with him. You trust him a million percent. Still an All-Pro caliber player. You can roll coverages away from him, let him just take someone man to man, by himself."
Garvin goes on to say that Peterson's impact isn't limited to the field.
"I think his maturity in terms of the locker room will be amazing. I think he'll help Minkah (Fitzpatrick) out even more in terms of maturity and getting ready."
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Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Terrance Garvin
Then Garvin says, he isn't trying to call anyone out but he reminds fans that Peterson might have wanted to be in Pittsburgh for a reason other than just playing.
"Not to do this, but I think he has a podcast with a former Steeler on it. From a business perspective, it was a genius move."
Moats' face lights up and he almost jumps out of his chair, acknowledging that Garvin is absolutely right. Peterson has been co-hosting All Things Covered with former Steeler Bryant McFadden or "B-Mack" since 2020.
"You right," Moats exclaimed. "He with B-Mack! Oh, he just got a boost! That's very savvy by him, good call TG! Great call!"
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Former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden
"You gotta see the business perspective. He knew what he was doing. So now he has Cardinal Nation which is a huge nation, he got that Minnesota purple fans and now he springs over here to the AFC and he's got Pittsburgh. And if you ask me I say it's Pittsburgh and Dallas in terms of fan bases," Garvin said.
Moats followed up by saying he hadn't even thought of the business perspective and he applauds how savvy it was of Peterson. Garvin adds that he doesn't think it prevents him from being a great fit for the black and gold, in fact, the opposite is true.
"I think Pat P is the type that he and Coach T (Mike Tomlin) will do extremely well. I just think it works. Coach T loves that LSU/SEC."
Let me know what you think of Garvin's comments. Do you think there is any truth to this being partial to boosting his brand? Or do you think it is just a happy coincidence? How are you feeling about the Peterson signing? Do you agree he is our new Joe Haden? Comment below.
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