Player: RB Cordarrelle Patterson
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: While he dressed for the Wild Card game, Cordarrelle Patterson did not play on offense. He only saw five snaps on special teams, returning one kick for 26 yards. After the game, he joked about shoveling snow because he can’t touch the grass. With a $3 million base salary in 2025, he is an obvious option for a salary cap casualty.
The Steelers outsmarted themselves in signing Cordarrelle Patterson when they thought they were outsmarting the league. In an ostensibly brilliant gambit, they locked up the greatest kick returner in NFL history on the day kick returns changed in a way that was supposed to increase their frequency and explosiveness.
And what did the Steelers get from Cordarrelle Patterson for their efforts? He returned a total of 11 kicks for 240 yards, averaging just 21.8 yards. That was the worst mark of his entire career—one would hope—with a long of 33.
Instead, he looked every bit of 33, which is his age. While he offered the occasional bout of explosiveness on offense, Patterson lacked the durability to do anything with it. Arthur Smith managed to use him with some effectiveness in Atlanta, but it didn’t work here.
The Steelers signed Patterson to a two-year, $6 million contract, of which they still owe $3 million. If they are a serious organization, they will look long and hard about whether he merits keeping. They had aspirations of making the kick return a real weapon this year, and he completely failed to deliver.
Moreover, he also did nothing to suggest that he could be a significant contributor on offense at this stage. The only time he got going in 2024, he got hurt. Cordarrelle Patterson is not a player the Steelers need to commit $3 million to based on his 2024 resume. Based on his zero snaps in the Wild Card game, that may be what they plan to do. If he wants to re-sign on a Veteran Salary Benefit deal, that’s another conversation. And he may have to, because who else would offer him more at this point?
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
