Ahkello Witherspoon’s lost 2022 could mean he isn’t back with Steelers in 2023

For the first 12 days of the season, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon never left the field when the Pittsburgh Steelers were on defense.

From that point on, though, he barely made it onto the field.

Witherspoon’s odds of getting on the field for the Steelers again might depend on the reason for his limited use: injury or performance.

Witherspoon has had quite the past 22 months in professional football. Since joining the Steelers in September 2021, he has had his share of ups and downs. Through it all, Witherspoon has said he wants to remain with an organization that has become home.

“Absolutely,” Witherspoon said last week. “This is where I enjoy being. I think these people respect me and understand who I am as a person. They see it’s not always pretty, but that I just come to work every day focused, and I just enjoy the opportunity to put on the black and yellow.”

But will Witherspoon get to do that again in 2023? Plenty of questions likely need to be answered before the Steelers bring him back for a third season.

First is health. Witherspoon suffered a hamstring injury during the third quarter Sept. 22 in Cleveland. To that point, through the first 2½ games of the season, he was the Steelers’ No. 1 cornerback.

But Witherspoon did not play in any of the Steelers’ next four games. Once cleared, he was back starting for the Oct. 30 game in Philadelphia.

Steelers fans might recall that did not go well — for the team or for Witherspoon. The Eagles were easy 35-13 winners in a game that featured four touchdown receptions of at least 27 yards. Witherspoon was directly involved in at least two of those long scores and was benched for the second half.

After the game, coach Mike Tomlin didn’t use injury as an excuse for Witherspoon: “I wouldn’t put him on the field if he wasn’t ready to go.”

But for the remainder of the season, Witherspoon was either on the injury report and not practicing, or he was on injured reserve because of the hamstring.

“I came back, and I felt nothing during that game, and it was actually the week coming off the bye week when I re-aggravated it,” Witherspoon said. “It might have been some of the reps, or some of the exposure that my hamstring was getting to, and we didn’t see those consequences during a game, but then it came during that week.”

Regardless, Witherspoon wasn’t cleared to practice until Week 17, and he never was activated before the season ended.

That is one part of what leaves his future with the Steelers very much up in the air. The two-year deal Witherspoon signed last March calls for a $4 million salary and $5.43 million cap hit for 2023. If the Steelers release him, it would leave a manageable $1.48 million of “dead money.”

It’s not so simple, though. The Steelers’ other top cornerback when the season began, Cameron Sutton, is scheduled for unrestricted free agency. And, aside from Levi Wallace, there are few proven corners in-house. James Pierre was their No. 4 CB most of this season, but in 2021 he was benched from his then-starting role for performance reasons.

Acquired in a trade with Seattle a week before the 2021 season began, Witherspoon’s tenure with the Steelers has been tumultuous. During the first half of 2021, the Steelers activated him for only one game, and Witherspoon allowed a long touchdown (to the Raiders’ Henry Ruggs) among the four snaps he played that day.

But by the end of the season, Witherspoon had become an indispensable playmaker in the secondary. That’s what earned him the two-year deal from the Steelers just a year after he signed with the Seahawks following his first four NFL seasons with San Francisco.

“It’s been unique,” Witherspoon said of his time with the Steelers. “Last year I wasn’t able to play in games, but I had football (practice) to kind of keep my mental health going and (having a daughter born) as well. This year, (because of injury) not actually being able to be out there and be in a helmet and cleats was tough.

“But for sure, it’s always an opportunity, just growing, learning. Just under different circumstances.”

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