Manish Mehta, the New York Jets beat writer for the New York Daily News, is reporting via Twitter on Wednesday that the Jets have expressed interest in bringing back wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery per a source. The Jets released Cotchery last August after his request to be cut loose as he reportedly was unhappy with his role as the Jets No. 3 receiver. Cotchery of course ended up signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers after the start of training camp and he saw most of his contributions down the stretch after he fully recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in the preseason. Cotchery ended up registering just 16 regular season receptions for 237 yards to go along with 2 receiving touchdowns. He also contributed one catch in the AFC Wild Card Game against the Denver Broncos that resulted in the game-tying touchdown that forced the game into overtime.
Looking to bolster their WR corps… the Jets have expressed interest in Jerricho Cotchery, per source. #nfl
— Manish Mehta(@TheJetsStream) March 14, 2012
Cotchery said after the season that he hoped to return to the Steelers in 2012 via a long term deal and the Steelers reportedly have hopes in having him back as well. Cotchery also has said in a previous interview that the Jets had quite a bit of drama and distractions in their locker-room that he was not very fond of and praised the Steelers organization for the lack of such. It is a bit curious that he would be interested in returning to Jets in 2012 after asking for his release last Summer, but he is not expected to draw too much interest from other teams during free agency. Cotchery told ESPNNewYork.com on Wednesday, “Yeah, I\’m open to it. I\’m open to all possibilities. I don\’t close doors. I\’m not that type of dude.”
Cotchery by all reports seems to be a solid locker room guy and he certainly could help the Steelers by mentoring the younger receivers. He is a perfect fit to carry on the Hines Ward torch and play the same type of role as Ward did once those young receivers emerged. Should the Steelers indeed end up retaining restricted free agent Mike Wallace, Cotchery would likely have to settle for splitting the 3rd down receiving role with Emmanuel Sanders. If Wallace were to end up signing elsewhere, Cotchery would almost certainly be used as the primary 3rd receiver on offense.
