Tag: Patrick Peterson

Pro Football Network picks one free agent signing Colts should still make

Pro Football Network picked one free agent signing that each NFL team should still make. Here is who they selected for the Colts.

Even with training camp on the horizon, there is still the opportunity for the Indianapolis Colts to add to their roster with a free agent addition.

Pro Football Network recently went through and selected one remaining free agent that each team should sign in the coming weeks. For the Colts, that player was cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Peterson, the No. 5 overall pick by Arizona in 2011, has put together an impressive career, making eight Pro Bowls, being a three-time All-Pro, along with being named to the All-2010s Team.

As Pro Football Network noted, the addition of Peterson could help the Colts’ secondary in a few different ways by either adding competition for Jaylon Jones and Dallis Flowers at cornerback, or perhaps he could compete with Rodney Thomas and Nick Cross for the free safety role.

Last season, the bulk of Peterson’s snaps still came as the boundary cornerback. There he would allow just 33 completions on 62 targets, surrender 13.1 yards per catch and come away with two interceptions and six pass breakups.

However, with Pittsburgh, Peterson would also play a career-high 220 snaps as the free safety as well, giving the Colts the flexibility to move him around based on where he fits best within their defense.

The secondary as a whole is, of course, one of the big unknowns for the Colts entering the 2024 season. This was a young group that struggled with consistency in 2023 with no major outside additions made to this unit during the offseason.

Out of the 32 teams, PFF ranked the Colts’ secondary No. 28 overall.

With nearly $26 million in available cap space, the Colts have more than enough room to make an addition. At this stage of the offseason and with where Peterson is at in his career, this would likely be a one-year, relatively inexpensive deal he would be signed to as well.

“Between now and the start of the season – there are still some good players out there,” GM Chris Ballard said following the NFL draft. “There’s some veterans out there that can still play. We’ll dig and investigate all of them and then make a decision if we think they are the right fit for us as we go along.”

To see who the other best remaining free agent cornerbacks and safeties are, click here.

Longtime NFL cornerback says Jayden Daniels was the best quarterback in the draft

Jayden Daniels earns high praise from Patrick Peterson.

Patrick Peterson has seen a lot. The longtime NFL cornerback has played 13 NFL seasons and was still active in 2023. While Peterson doesn’t have a team for 2024, he hasn’t officially announced his retirement.

The former LSU star is a three-time first-team All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. He has 36 career interceptions and has faced some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

As a guest on “The Rich Eisen Show” Tuesday, Peterson discussed the rookie quarterbacks and said he believed new Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the best in the 2024 NFL draft.

“For the most part, his career at LSU was just unbelievable,” Peterson said. “What he was able to do last year and the steps he was able to make from the previous year, it was just remarkable to see the steps and strides he was able to make to solidify himself as the Heisman Trophy winner and second overall pick of the Washington Commanders.”

Peterson is looking forward to seeing what’s ahead for Daniels.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how his career ends up panning out,” he said. I do love his skill set, I think he probably, not probably, I thought he was the best quarterback as far as overall skillset, pocket presence, going through the process of reading the routes, I just thought he was the best all-around quarterback in this 2024 draft.”

Here’s the full segment:

Earning the respect of veteran players is often the most difficult thing for a young quarterback. Daniels’ teammates in Washington are already impressed and it sounds like some of the best players in the NFL are, too.

LSU enlists Patrick Peterson to help land top-five cornerbacks during crucial visit weekend

Patrick Peterson showed up to help LSU land some top defensive back talent, including No. 1 cornerback DJ Pickett.

LSU had an eventful recruiting weekend in Baton Rouge, headlined by two of the top five cornerbacks in the 2025 cycle — [autotag]DJ Pickett[/autotag] (No. 1) and [autotag]Dorian Brew[/autotag] (No. 4).

If the Tigers could land one or both, it would only solidify what is already one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. And to help make that push, LSU brought in quite the ringer.

Former star cornerback and current NFL free agent [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag] was in the building pitching Pickett and Brew on joining “DBU.” Pickett is the top current target on the Tigers’ board, and LSU may be the frontrunner with Oregon, Miami and Florida in the mix as well, according to LSU Country’s Zack Nagy.

Pickett and Brew were two of several five-star prospects on campus this weekend, and while LSU is still reeling from the decommitment of [autotag]Dakorien Moore[/autotag] — who it remains in the mix for — its No. 2-ranked class could retake the top spot if this weekend proves to have been fruitful.

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DB Patrick Peterson might still be the best FA option for the Steelers

Patrick Peterson thinks he can come in and excel as a nickel cornerabck and the Steelers better be listening.

When it comes to the cornerback position, the Pittsburgh Steelers are set with No. 1 corner Joey Porter Jr. However, after Porter, this depth chart has more questions than answers in terms of who will play where. With the NFL draft in the books, it’s all about who is available in free agency.

But there is still a guy out there, a guy who is going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday who knows the team pretty well. Patrick Peterson went on his All Things Covered Podcast and talked about what his role could be on an NFL defense this season.

“It don’t necessarily have to be a starting situation because I understand the way the league is going, said Peterson. “As far as a backup role, it would have to be like a nickel position because I feel like I can excel at a nickel position. I feel like I can guard whoever’s number two or three receiver in the slot position of a defense. I feel like over the course of the year I started to get more and more comfortable with the assignments.”

If the Steelers could get Peterson back to play the nickel, it might be the final piece of the puzzle in the secondary. We are still holding out hope that Cory Trice Jr. will be healthy this season and can compete to be the primary backup on the outside to Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson.

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8 free agents still on the market who could help the Steelers

It’s nearly June and the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of OTAs. The Steelers have had a very strong free agency period and followed that up with one of the best NFL draft hauls in the league. However, even after all that, there are still …

It’s nearly June and the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of OTAs. The Steelers have had a very strong free agency period and followed that up with one of the best NFL draft hauls in the league. However, even after all that, there are still positions on this roster that need help. Here are eight free agents still on the market who could help the Steelers.

Several former Steelers on the radar to return to Pittsburgh secondary

The Steelers have several former players they could re-sign in the secondary.

As things stand right now if the Pittsburgh Steelers season started today, the team’s starting slot cornerback would be Darius Rush. To be fair, Rush is a complete unknown at this point. Same for Cory Trice Jr. who might be the answer on the outside and Donte Jackson might kick inside.

But we aren’t terribly confident with going into the training camp with those scenarios if there can be a backup plan. And the Steelers could have multiple options for a backup and all of them used to be on the roster.

The most obvious is Patrick Peterson. He admitted he’s had conversations with the team and it feels like Peterson is going to take the summer off and relax and then join the team just before the start of preseason and assume a starting job.

Two other former Steelers who are out there and could help are Ahkello Witherspoon and Chandon Sullivan. Both guys have been starters for the Steelers, know the scheme and wouldn’t break the bank. Sullivan can line up in the slot and Witherspoon is better on the outside.

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15 Steelers free agents who remain unsigned

The Pittsburgh Steelers have put on a free agency show like they have never done before this offseason. Many critical voids have been filled, and things have been quiet with the NFL draft just over three weeks away. Pittsburgh has 15 free agents who …

The Pittsburgh Steelers have put on a free agency show like they have never done before this offseason. Many critical voids have been filled, and things have been quiet with the NFL draft just over three weeks away.

Pittsburgh has 15 free agents who remain without a team — linebackers chief among them. Given how recent seasons have played out, it seems the Steelers can’t have enough quality depth there. Re-signing guys like Markus Golden and Kwon Alexander might be a smart move.

Here are the former Steelers players who could (or not) make their way back to the Steel City.

Patrick Peterson’s situation more complicated for return to Steelers

Patrick Peterson says he needs some lead time if he’s going to play safety this season.

From the moment the Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson at the start of the offseason, we speculated he is a perfect candidate to return to the team at some point. We also wondered if his best bet to return would be as a safety instead of a cornerback.

Peterson addressed this on the NFL on Fox Podcast and made it clear he does not want to return to the NFL as a safety.

I don’t want to start at safety because that’s a different animal back there,” Peterson said. “That’s a different view back there. If that is the case, I would need to be warned going into the season to get my body, my mental prepared. It’s different being at the safety from the cornerback position, having those open-field tackles.

In 2023, injuries forced Peterson to play a significant amount of safety for the Steelers. He played over 1,000 defensive snaps last season and nearly 1/3 of those were at safety in some capacity. While we appreciate what Peterson is saying about needing lead time, he played well at safety last season and a case can be made he was better at safety than he was at outside cornerback.

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Steelers open to bringing back CB Patrick Peterson

Mike Tomlin said the team could bring Patrick Peterson back at some point.

One of the big offseason moves the Pittsburgh Steelers made was the release of veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson to help save the team money. When it first happened, we speculated that Peterson would be a prime candidate to return to the team at a later date and on a more cap-friendly deal.

On Sunday, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media about the offseason while attending the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando and basically said the same thing.

Tomlin said the team was open to bringing Peterson back at a later date. Peterson’s best days as a shutdown cornerback may be behind him but when the team moved him to safety last season to cover injuries, he played well.

Pittsburgh signed safety DeShon Elliott as a free agent and should start next to Minkah Fitzpatrick but bringing Peterson back would give the Steelers a great three-man safety rotation.

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Patrick Peterson talks about possibly returning to Pittsburgh

One of the best defensive backs in LSU history just finished his 13th season in the NFL.

One of the best defensive backs in LSU history just finished his 13th season in the NFL. [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag] was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals where he would then become a star.

He has played in 201 games in his career and he has started in 200 of those games. He has 652 tackles in his career with 36 interceptions and 19 forced fumbles. He played for Arizona for 10 years before going to Minnesota for two years. Last season, he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Peterson was released by the Steelers recently before free agency began, but he has high hopes he will return to Pittsburgh.

“I would love to return back to Pittsburgh, had a great, me and coach (Mike) Tomlin had a great dialogue when I got that dreaded call of being released,” he said. “But being there in Pittsburgh I had the time of my life, being with coach Tomlin, seeing how he was able to get his guys up week in and week out, no matter what the circumstances were, he told me the door’s still open for business, so we’ll see what happens here in the next couple weeks and month or two, and hopefully I can be a Pittsburgh Steeler again. But a team that is looking for a veteran corner, I’m out there.

“I definitely want to give it another shot to fulfill my long dream and to go win a championship.”

Hopefully, [autotag]Mike Tomlin[/autotag] can find a place for him on the defense.

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