As all non-playoff teams are this time of year, the Pittsburgh Steelers are making their way through exit interviews.
One player who’s gone through the process is Patrick Peterson.
Though he likely knows, Mike Tomlin only said that it’s too early to (publicly) make the call on whether he’ll return to Pittsburgh in 2024.
“I did meet with Pat (Peterson), we had a good exit interview,” Tomlin said in his season-end press conference. “I’m really appreciative of his experience and professionalism and who he is as a man and player, what he’s willing to do. But from a decision-making standpoint, we’re just really at the infancy of it all from that standpoint.”
The inevitable happens and players age. At 33, Peterson’s age was certainly on display this season, which led many to speculate if the Steelers will permanently move him to safety.
Of his 1,186 total defensive snaps, Peterson played 252 in the safety role, according to Pro Football Focus‘ advanced stats.
Peterson was initially brought in not only based on past experience but also as a mentor to the young defensive backs room. Joey Porter Jr. has shown he can hang with the big dogs and I think he’ll be just fine without him.
Per Over the Cap, Peterson’s remaining contract year carries a cap number of $9.775 million or 4% of the cap. Should the Steelers cut him before June 1, it’ll save $6.850 million with $2.925 million of dead money on the books.
