Jerricho Cotchery chooses Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (89) grimaces after an apparent injury suffered against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 20-7. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Carolina Panthers are desperate for wide receiver help after losing all of their top four wideouts this offseason, as they chose to release Steve Smith and failed to re-sign Ted Ginn Jr., Brandon LaFell, and Domenik Hixon. They’ve shown interest in a number of second-tier veteran receivers, and the biggest name on that list is Jerricho Cotchery, who caught a whopping ten touchdown passes for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.
Per the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Cotchery has decided to sign with the Carolina Panthers over re-signing with the Steelers, and he is now clearly the top WR on the Panthers depth chart ahead of inexperienced receivers Tavarres King and Marvin McNutt. Cotchery is nothing more than a quality WR3 at this stage of his career, but the Panthers desperately needed anyone of competence and still desperately need another competent receiver.
The 31-year-old caught 46 passes for 602 yards last season, and he did his best work on third downs. Rapoport reports that the Panthers and Cotchery are “hammering out” the “final details” of his new contract, and it’s going to be interesting to see if he’ll spend more than one year in Charlotte. My guess is that his deal is a cheap one, since Dave Gettleman has been ridiculously stingy at the position this offseason.