– WR Emmanuel Sanders signed with the Denver Broncos on Saturday. His deal is three-years, $15 million. Controversy has ensued. According to reports, agent Steve Weinberg – on behalf of Sanders – agreed in principle to a deal with Kansas City on Friday. He then engaged Tampa Bay in negotiations, using the Chiefs offer as leverage to up the Buccaneers offer, while not mentioning that he had already agreed to terms with Kansas City. Meanwhile Weinberg had agreed to a visit with the San Francisco 49ers, and blew it off. Finally, he and Sanders agreed on the deal with Denver. All of this for a wide receiver that at no time in his Pittsburgh career showed that he could be a productive starter. The NFL is abuzz over the Sanders mess, with executives coming out and calling it one of the worst situations in modern football negotiations.
– Free agent WR Jerricho Cotchery will visit with the Carolina Panthers on Monday, according to Mark Kaboly of the Tribune-Review. Cotchery has been rumored to be in negotiations with the Steelers to return, but evidentially the two sides are far enough apart on terms to force the 32-year old veteran to start looking elsewhere. Of course, Cotchery could simply be visiting Carolina to build leverage for his Steelers negotiations. Cotchery was a star WR for North Carolina State from 2000-2003, breaking records for career receptions and 100-yard receiving games that were previously held by WR Torry Holt. Signing with the Panthers would be a homecoming for Cotchery, so the possibility of a deal is there.
– With Sanders now gone and Cotchery on the fence, the Steelers are beginning to look woefully thin at wide receiver. Should Cotchery leave, the Steelers would have only Antonio Brown as a legitimate threat. WR Markus Wheaton spent most of his rookie campaign injured, and didn’t exactly blow it up when he was on the field. WR Derek Moye was a healthy inactive in all but a few games in 2013, and WR Justin Brown (6th round pick, 2013) did not suit up at all in the regular season. Pittsburgh is looking more and more like a team that needs to address the position very early in the upcoming NFL Draft.
– A few interesting names at WR could end up being bargains in this free agent market. Now that Sanders, WR Eric Decker (Jets), WR Steve Smith (Ravens) and WR Hakeem Nicks (Colts) are off the market, players like WR Miles Austin of Dallas, WR Davone Bess of Cleveland, and WRs Robert Meachem and Lance Moore of New Orleans could end up signing cut-rate deals. None of these names have been linked anywhere as of yet, and all are players who look to have some juice left in the tank. Would Steelers fans be interesting in seeing any of them in the Black and Gold this fall?
– Free agent RB James Starks, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, will visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Pittsburgh currently has no back on the roster with an NFL carry, outside of starter Le’Veon Bell. Starks has spent his entire four-year career in Green Bay, mainly as a back-up. His best season was 2011 when he rushed for 578 yards and one touchdown after taking over for injured starter RB Ryan Grant. The 28-year old was drafted by the Packers in the sixth-round of the 2010 Draft out of the University of Buffalo.
– Other significant running backs still on the market include RB Knowshon Moreno from Denver, RB Maurice Jones-Drew from Jacksonville and RB LeGarrette Blount from New England. Jones-Drew has been linked to the Minnesota Vikings, but Blount nor Moreno has publicly visited any teams. The Steelers signed RB LaRod Stephens-Howling to a contract very late last spring (April 26), although he ended up injured in Week one. Could Pittsburgh make a play for another veteran running back this year?
– With the loss of Sanders, the Steelers are also in need of a player who can return punts and kickoffs. They could find a specialist in the draft, as they have tried to do in the past (remember 2006 third-round pick Willie Reid?). Another option could be to sign a player off the scrap heap. A name that has haunted the Steelers in the past is out there and after an injury-plagued 2013, has zero interest it seems. If he could be brought in as a bargain-bin free agent, would WR/PR/KR Josh Cribbs be a player the team could take a shot at?
– There have been no updates on any of the Steelers own UFAs: DE Brett Keisel, WR Plaxico Burress, C Fernando Velasco, or G Guy Whimper.
AFC North Update
– The Cleveland Browns finally agreed on a two-year, $7 million deal with free agent RB Ben Tate. Tate has been rumored as a Cleveland target since last offseason, and it seems that he will have a shot to be the primary running back for the new-look Brownies.
– Former Cincinnati Bengals DB Brandon Ghee signed a two-year deal with the San Diego Chargers.
– Free agent DB Corey Graham, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the Buffalo Bills. Former Ravens ILB Jameel McClain signed with the New York Giants
