Patrick Peterson 'Likes Cowboys' - But CB Signs with Steelers in Free Agency

“I like the Cowboys,” Patrick Peterson said as NFL free agency launched this week. Does Dallas harbor mutual feelings? Well, not as much as the Steelers do.

FRISCO - The Pittsburgh Steelers were not on the list.

The Dallas Cowboys were on the list.

“I like the Cowboys,” Patrick Peterson said as NFL free agency launched this week.

But the Steelers are the team that likes him back.

It is the Steelers who have reached an agreement with the Pro Bowl standout Peterson, per ESPN.

Peterson has always dreamed of playing in Big D, and as he comes free again (this time from Minnesota) can his dream become a reality in 2023?

The Pro Bowler mentioned in an ESPN podcast teaming up with play-making Trevon Diggs at one corner. … while mentioning Dallas, Cincinnati and Philadelphia as the three places that make sense for him.

As it happens, Diggs is on-record as saying that Peterson is the reason he wears jersey No. 7. So there is quite an "admiration society'' vibe here.

Growing up,” Peterson said in Dec. 2021, “my dreams were to be a Cowboy. But at the end of the day, that didn’t happen … (but I’ve) still got time on the table because I still got some tread still left on the tires.”

The two-time first-team All-Pro, now 32, clearly has a little more left than just "some tread." Peterson ranked fifth in the NFL in interceptions with five, in 2022, along with having compiled 66 total tackles (three for loss) and 15 passes defensed.

Peterson, the eight-time Pro Bowler, has his name involved here as Dallas is being listed by some as a "top-three destination.'' And as it happens, the Cowboys happen to have a need at the position heading into 2023.

At 6-1, 200 pounds, Peterson has the size to be effective in multiple ways. Oh, and he earned the second-best overall and coverage grade of his career in 2022 from Pro Football Focus, with 80.7 and 82.5 marks, respectively. Peterson’s coverage grade ranked fifth among cornerbacks, with his 16.4 percent forced incompletion rate ranking 19th while his 11 defensive stops in coverage tied for 24th.

All that, plus a mention of a desire to mentor Diggs? Makes sense.

Peterson's estimated valuation is at an APY of $4 million - an affordable-enough deal. We don't know yet if that's what he got from Pittsburgh. But we know what he got from Dallas.

No love.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.