While they lack the accolades of perennial All-Pros T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Cameron Heyward, two of the more solid and reliable starters on the Pittsburgh Steelers defense have contract situations that leave their future with the team in question.
General manager Omar Khan gave strong indications Tuesday that the organization hopes to keep Alex Highsmith and Cameron Sutton around.
Sutton, a seventh-year cornerback, is set to become an unrestricted free agent in two weeks. Highsmith, a fourth-year outside linebacker, is entering the final season of his rookie contract.
Highsmith is coming of a season in which he ranked sixth in the NFL in sacks with 14½ and tied for the league lead with five forced fumbles.
During a Tuesday session with Pittsburgh-based reporters who made the trip to Indianapolis, Khan was asked about the prospects of an extension for Highsmith.
“You guys know our history,” Khan said at Lucas Oil Stadium on the opening day of the NFL combine. “When we have a young, up-and-coming player, we don’t like to let those guys go.”
The Steelers didn’t let Sutton go when he embarked on free agency two years ago, re-signing him for two years and $9 million after he’d served as a versatile cornerback during his first four years with the organization. But Sutton again is a free agent, and after playing more than 96% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps and starting 31 games the past two years, he won’t come nearly as cheap this time around.
Spotrac.com estimates Sutton’s market value at a $7.6 million average annual salary over a three-year deal.
“We love and think very highly of Cam,” Khan said of Sutton, a third-round pick in 2017. “Conversations (on an extension) have commenced, and we will see where it goes. Just like all our other free agents, everything is on the table.”
The “legal tampering period” for free agency begins March 13, with contracts able to be signed with the start of the new league year March 15.
Two years ago, the Steelers re-signed Sutton but allowed slot DB Mike Hilton to leave. Hilton signed a four-year, $24 million contract with the rival Cincinnati Bengals.
Sutton joins safeties Terrell Edmunds and Damontae Kazee, inside linebackers Devin Bush and Robert Spillane and defensive linemen Larry Ogunjobi, Chris Wormley and Tyson Alualu as full- or part-time Steelers defensive starters who are eligible for unrestricted free agency this spring.
Highsmith is by far the Steelers’ biggest priority for an extension in 2023, He is easily more of a candidate for a multi-year deal than others who are entering the final season of their contracts such as Levi Wallace, Kevin Dotson and Montravius Adams.
Highsmith has started 34 of the Steelers’ 35 games (including playoffs) the past two seasons.
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
