'NFL dude' Arthur Maulet quietly in competition for significant role in Steelers’ secondary

Arthur Maulet is the type of player Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin perpetually seems drawn to. So it wasn’t a surprise a year ago when Tomlin used a characteristically colorful description for the veteran defensive back.

“A proven NFL dude.”

“Whatever he describes me as,” Maulet said earlier during training camp, “I’ll take it. That’s just a compliment, and I appreciate it.”

So what, exactly, is an “NFL dude?”

“A guy who can play multiple positions and be effective for the team,” Tomlin said.

That certainly describes Maulet, who is entering his second season and his second contract with the Steelers after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Saints, Colts and Jets. After playing last season on a one-year, $990,000 deal, Maulet re-signed in the spring for two years and $3.825 million.

While last year at this time Maulet was adjusting to a new organization, this summer with the Steelers, he said, he feels more comfortable.

“Way more,” Maulet said.

“Last year was my first year playing inside (nickel/slot), (so) I had a big learning curve over the summer. I worked my butt off, and I wanted to prove to the whole Pittsburgh Steelers nation that I was ready to play.”

DB Arthur Maulet says things pic.twitter.com/fk2FGRbVxf

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) July 29, 2022

Maulet did that to the point of playing 35% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps and 36% of their snaps on special teams in 2021. Maulet is one of the Steelers’ most-trusted special teamers. According to Pro Football Focus, the majority of those defensive snaps came at the nickel/slot.

This season, he’s been likely the most-deployed player in the slot with the first-team defense through two weeks of training camp practices at Saint Vincent. That’s been in some part because of an illness afflicting veteran free-agent signee Levi Wallace, but, even when Wallace has been cleared for practice, Maulet still often has been on the field along with cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Ahkello Witherspoon on the outside.

That Wallace and Witherspoon each were signed to two-year, $8 million contracts and Sutton is a multi-year starter led most to believe those were the three starting cornerbacks — likely with Sutton in the slot/nickel when all three are deployed, with Wallace and Witherspoon in the competition to see who stays on the field in the “base” (two-CB) defense.

But Maulet has seemed to insert himself into the discussion as something of a wild card at cornerback. With the first preseason game days away, lots still can shake out. Maulet, either way, is assured a roster spot, a significant special teams role and some sort of subpackage play on defense.

“(Competition) is fun. That’s what we need, what we need to be successful,” Maulet said. “It makes the whole team better, and especially the secondary.”

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