The eight-game suspension imposed Monday on Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton wipes out eight of his eighteen game checks. With a base salary of $1.21 million, that translates to $537,777 in lost wages for 2024.
The cost to Sutton was much more than that.
Immediately after the Lions became aware that he was wanted on (at the time) felony charges, they voided his guaranteed salary for 2024 and released him. That was $10.5 million, gone for good.
If the Lions hadn’t cut Sutton, he would have lost $4.667 million in salary. The Lions also would have been able to recover a portion of his $10.9 million signing bonus from 2023.
The Lions, however, didn’t hesitate to move on from Sutton. The Steelers ultimately had no qualms about bringing him back. The fact, however, that the NFL ultimately suspended Sutton for nearly half of the season underscores that, in the league’s opinion, Sutton deserved to miss eight games without pay for his misconduct.