Peterson hoping for reunion with Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers free agent defensive back Patrick Peterson says he has always wanted to play at least 14 years in the NFL.

Now, he has to wait to see which organization is going to give him a shot to do that.

Based on what the eighttime Pro Bowler just told the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, he’d like it to be the Steelers, but he’s also speaking with one of the Black and Gold’s opponents for next year.

“You know how much I love Coach (Mike) Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers organization and Joey Porter (Jr.). I want to be around his growth throughout his young NFL career,” Peterson told Eisen on his Roku Channel show. “Coach Zimmer there in Dallas, (I) had a couple conversations with them. … Those are two teams right now that we had conversations with, but we’ll see where it goes.”

Peterson was referring to Mike Zimmer. He’s the Cowboys defensive coordinator under Mike McCarthy. Zimmer was Peterson’s head coach in Minnesota for two years before Peterson spent 2023 in Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys and Steelers play each other in Week 5 of the regular season at Acrisure Stadium.

For now, Peterson insists he’s training on his own as a free agent and will be ready when called upon once teams get a better handle on their respective depth charts after OTAs and minicamps sort out.

“I’m staying in shape,” Peterson said. “I’m doing everything that I need to do if the phone does ring, because I do have a desire to play a 14th season in the NFL.

“I think it’s just going to come down to seeing how the teams are looking after minicamps. Now that guys are in OTAs (teams are) trying to still move a couple of guys around and see how the roster is going to be looking going into training camp.”

Eisen joked that staying away from signing a contract now might be in Peterson’s best interests since, with 13 years of experience under his belt, Peterson “doesn’t need to be stuck in a dorm on a college campus” somewhere.

But Peterson pushed back on that assessment a bit, saying that he values that time of team development.

“Having the love and aspirations of building a championship team, being around the guys, that’s almost my favorite time of the year,” Peterson insisted. “A lot of guys dread the training camp portion of gearing up for the season. But that’s the time that you have an opportunity to get closer with the guys (who) are going to be around in the heat of battle.”

So apparently, Peterson is just fine with the idea of a second summer at Saint Vincent College should he re-up with the Steelers.

That’s not an idea I’m totally against. I thought Peterson showed he had something left in the tank when he wasn’t exposed on an island outside the numbers. However, even covering younger, shifty slot receivers on the inside could be problematic for the 34-year-old veteran.

If he can play inside against bigger slot receivers or as a nickel or dime subpackage player, Peterson may still be useful for Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.

Right now, the Steelers are likely to use Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson as their most common corner combination. Minkah Fitzpatrick, DeShon Elliot and Damontae Kazee are the three top safeties. But after that, nothing is set in stone at the DB position.

I could see the Steelers making Peterson’s phone ring, but that may only happen if all of their other options beyond that top five fall flat in training camp. That means the likes of Anthony Averett, Darius Rush, Cory Trice, Trenton Thompson and rookie Ryan Watts.

So no matter how much Peterson likes St. Vincent’s dorms, he may not have much time there if the Steelers decide to bring him back at all.

Failing that, maybe he’ll be back in Pittsburgh with a Blue Star on his helmet on Oct. 6.