Why did the Pittsburgh Steelers feel comfortable re-signing Cam Sutton? Mike Tomlin explains the rationale behind it.
PITTSBURGH — Cam Sutton is back in Pittsburgh with the Steelers after a one-year hiatus. But his tenure with the Detroit Lions ended in controversy. Charges were filed against Sutton for domestic violence in March before he turned himself in at the end of the month. Initially, felony charges were dropped to a misdemeanor. Sutton entered into a pretrial diversion program, and he could be subject to a suspension under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy.
With the allegations out in public, why were the Steelers comfortable bringing Sutton despite his end in Detroit? Mike Tomlin explained it and stated that the team had conducted their due diligence into the situation before signing Sutton.
“There are not any conversations that [Sutton and I] had recently. It’s the totality of our relationship. I met this guy in Knoxville man six, seven years ago, whatever it was, when he came out of school. He’s a great guy. He loves football. It’s probably the totality of our relationship and I probably represent the sentiment of the organization and saying that it’s less about specific conversations, particularly of late, and it’s about the relationship established over a longer period of time,” Tomlin said.
One week ago, Sutton discussed the domestic violence at hand and sent a message to fans that were concerned about his signing, given the allegations in the affidavit.
“It’s an opinion-based world,” Sutton said in response. “Everyone moves on the basis of not-knowing, but feel the presence or the space to speak. That’s give or take, however it goes. My job is not appeal to someone else. My job is to be the best version of myself and how do I give that off to the masses or give it off to everyone around me. I’m in full control of that. I’m never worried about a narrative. I’m never worried about what necessarily people say because obviously more than likely they don’t know me more than anybody else. You know what I mean? And again, it gets back to just your foundation, your morals, who you are individually as a human being, and just what you stand on. Holding my head high. Again, everybody goes through adversity, everybody goes through things in their life that can change in both directions. So it’s all about how you stand on that and what you do from that. And like I said, I’m ready to keep moving in the right direction. Everything else will keep falling in line and we just keep moving from there.”
The Steelers seem likely to plug Sutton in as the starting slot cornerback. He could face a six-game suspension when returning to the personal conduct policy. Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Charles Omenihu faced a similar situation last season and was suspended for six games.
That means there is likely still a slot cornerback job to watch throughout the offseason to see who can crack the roster and play there in the event that Sutton is suspended.
