The NFL suspended Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton for the first eight games of the season without pay for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, it said Monday.
Sutton, who signed a one-year, veteran minimum deal with Pittsburgh in June, was released by the Detroit Lions this offseason after Florida police issued an arrest warrant following an alleged domestic violence incident in March. Sutton turned himself into police 11 days after the arrest warrant was issued.
Sutton entered a pretrial diversion program in April after his felony charge was reduced to misdemeanor battery, according to online court records. He entered the batterers’ intervention program on April 8, according to court records.
The NFL investigated the incident before issuing the suspension, it said. Sutton will be eligible for reinstatement on Oct. 29, after the Steelers’ Week 8 game against the New York Giants.
At a media availability in June, Sutton said he could not speak about his legal situation nor potential discipline from the league.
“I was waiting for a call and that call presented itself and I am here now and I am ready to keep moving,” Sutton said. “Adversity strikes everybody in life and it is all about how you handle it and how you go through those phases and knowing who you are individually and not (letting) anybody else dim your light.
“I am thankful for the organization to give me this opportunity and be able to come back out with these guys and try to do special things.”
Sutton played the first six seasons of his career with the Steelers before signing a three-year, $33 million deal with the Lions in 2023. He started all 17 games for the Lions last season and tallied 65 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and six passes defended.
Asked last month about why they signed Sutton, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin cited the “totality” of his relationship with the player the team drafted in 2017.
“There are not any conversations that we had recently, it’s the totality of our relationship,” Tomlin said. “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.”
Pittsburgh brought Sutton back to fill a glaring need at slot cornerback. Without him, the Steelers will either have to look for a veteran still available in free agency (potentially Patrick Peterson) or hope that rookie Beanie Bishop or the well-traveled yet experienced Josiah Scott has a season like he did with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 when he played nearly 400 snaps. Scott played a lot with the first team in the spring before Pittsburgh signed Sutton.
