There’s no sugar-coating it: The Minnesota Vikings’ pass defense was atrocious in 2022. Sure, there were some promising individual performances from Duke Shelley and Patrick Peterson, but the secondary struggled mightily as a unit. Minnesota’s pass defense ranked 31st in the league, allowing 4,515 passing yards and 265.6 air yards per game.
Starting nickel cornerback Chandon Sullivan was the weakest link on defense. Despite being one of the fastest players on defense, he struggled in coverage, frequently allowing easy completions due to a lack of physicality at the line of scrimmage. Between the three starters (including him, Peterson, and Shelley), Sullivan missed the most tackles, had the least PBUs, and allowed the highest passer rating.
With Sullivan and special teams ace/de-facto backup slot corner Kris Boyd set to be free agents, the Vikings desperately need to sign a slot CB this offseason, someone who can provide a level of veteran leadership without taking away too many snaps from the young corners who need playing time to grow into their roles.
Cameron Sutton can fill that need in free agency.
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Sutton, 28, with the 94th-overall pick in 2017. He’s a bit of a late-bloomer who the Steelers essentially redshirted from his rookie year in 2017 until 2020, when he earned a spot as a rotational player. Part of that can be attributed to Pittsburgh’s cornerback depth at the time. Pittsburgh had Joe Haden and Steven Nelson on the outside, with Mike Hilton starting at nickel. Sutton didn’t really get an opportunity to start until the Cincinnati Bengals signed Mike Hilton in free agency in 2021.
Sutton struggled when he became a starter in 2021. He started on the outside, and Sutton is only 5’11”. Therefore, he’s at his best playing in the slot. The Steelers made Sutton the nickel corner this season, and he had a breakout year. Sutton went from allowing a passer rating of 104.9 in 2021 to only allowing a passer rating of 65.3 last season. His completion percentage allowed also dropped from 66.7% in 2021 to 47.9% in 2022.
Perhaps the biggest reason why the Vikings should sign Sutton is because of his ties to Brian Flores, who was the Steelers’ senior assistant and linebackers coach last year. That one year where they overlapped in Pittsburgh may not seem like it matters, but one year’s worth of experience under Flores is better than zero. Patrick Peterson has been the leader of Minnesota’s secondary for the past two years, and a return seems unlikely after the Vikings voided his contract.
Ultimately, the Vikings have a lot of young corners without a veteran who can be the main communicator on defense. In an interview with Steelers team writer/editor Dale Lolley, Sutton went in depth about how he’s able to help his teammates see the game:
It’s not always about what I do out there on the field but being able to put a guy in the right spot, or remind him of something that I’ve seen on the film that he might not have seen just because of his position. It might not affect him in the game in the same way as it affects me, but being able to tell them, “Hey, put your inside foot up on your drop instead of your outside foot so it gives you a better angle.” Just that little small detail like that, it’s a split difference between him tipping a pass and him intercepting the pass.
Even though he’s only been a starter for two years, Sutton brings a veteran presence that would be highly beneficial for Minnesota’s young cornerback group. He may not be a three-time first-team All-Pro corner and future Hall Of Famer like Peterson is, but he has experience playing for Flores. Sutton is also very vocal when it comes to teaching his teammates how to do the little things right.
Sutton reminds me a little bit of former Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn. Like Munnerlyn, Sutton is a reliable veteran cornerback who wouldn’t be a part of the team’s long-term future. However, he would be perfect as a bridge corner who can start until you draft and develop his successor. In 2014, the Vikings signed Munnerlyn to a three-year, $14.5 million deal. Obviously, you need to adjust that for inflation, but I could see Minnesota signing Sutton on a similar contract. Spotrac has Sutton’s market value at three years, $22.9 million, which sounds about right.
Sutton isn’t going to single-handedly transform the Vikings’ defense from worst to first. However, he is a quality veteran with a few productive years ahead of him, and who’s capable of helping Minnesota’s young corners learn Flores’ defense. Unlike Peterson or Jalen Ramsey, he can do that without taking away snaps from the boundary corners the Vikings drafted, which is exactly what the Minnesota needs right now.
