The latest Pittsburgh Steeler to add the word ‘former’ to his name is Jerricho Cotchery. According to Ian Rapoport, Cotchery will sign with the Carolina Panthers.
This leaves the Steelers with Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton and Derek Moye as the potential starters at wide receiver.
If you take away Brown’s 110 receptions then you are left with eight total combined catches between Wheaton and Moye.
That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.
If Jerricho Cotchery is leaving for the money, I don’t blame him one bit. He is on the down-side of his career and is going to a team that arguably has a better chance of winning right now than do the Steelers.
That said he is coming off a career year in terms of touchdowns (10) and developed a very nice relationship with Ben Roethlisberger especially in the red zone. Cotchery could have stayed in the ‘burgh and probably would have caught more than 50 balls this year from the slot and number two receiver positions but apparently that wasn’t as attractive as Carolina.
Again, I don’t blame Cotchery at all if he is getting more money in what amounts to his final contract but outside of that, why leave?
The offense was clearly clicking over the course of the second half of last season and with a more seasoned offensive line, looks to be good again this year.
Players come and go through free agency and the occasional trade all the time, but I can’t help but think that something just isn’t right with this organization right now and Cotchery leaving only solidifies that point.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard Mondays on Trib-Live Radio at 730pm ET talking Steelers and is a blogger for ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh.
3 comments
So do you people think the Steelers should ignore WR and go with blind faith in Moye and Wheaton or are you willing to change your mind? Now AB is the only the WR that is left from last year that did anything and now I’m supposed to have faith in Moye and Wheaton, that ain’t happening. You know the reason as to why I wanted WR early was very simple but almost everybody did not want to believe and that reason was this: What are there alternative options? You can say they should sign either Lance Moore or Sidney Rice or another FA WR but what exactly is that going to solve. None of those guys out there are even worth being a No.2. At best there all either a 3 or 4 WR. Now I know everybody want the D to be fixed but thinking that any of those Defensive players will start or for that matter yet you people don’t believe that or you do understand it but you keep thinking LeBeau will change his mind. There is not one Defensive player out there that you can mention or I mention that will start plain and simple. Tell me something why should the Steelers avoid WR until the mid rounds and go Defense or go with a TE in the 1st that they don’t need until miller is gone?
The fact that they re-signed Michael Palmer and are looking at LaGarrette Blount worries me tremendously. The closer we get to the draft the more I think they may actually go OL or DB and ignore WR until the second or third. I’m fairly convinced that ARII wants the ground and pound to come back desptie the fact it is obsolete.
They need a backup RB and they guys they have talked to I have no problem with. They have there TE position set so why go that route in the draft. If they take Ebron or someone like that in the draft then they have to cut one of the TE’s they resigned. ART II is a fool and idiotic one at that. WR is a top priority. You look at some of WR’s in today’s NFL they are all 1st-2nd round picks. But with the Steelers they feel that those guys are not good enough and that guys in the mid rounds will do better. That is foolish way of thinking. Look at the WR’s that will be coming to camp in July: AB, Wheaton, Moye, Kashif Moore, David Gilreath, Justin Brown, Lance Moore, Danny Coale, Jasper Collins, Bert Reed, Lanear Simpson, Tyler Shaw and J.D. Woods. This is what you will see at Steelers training camp if they don’t fix the Position of WR in the draft. If you’re wondering where most of these names com from the answer might surprise you: A Football Widget on my TV.