With Kenneth Gainwell signed and Kaleb Johnson drafted, it’s fair to wonder how Cordarrelle Patterson is still on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, much less what his role in the offense could be come September. The most likely reason he’s remained on the team is his cheap contract and a desire to evaluate the new additions through the spring. Get eyes on Gainwell and Johnson and make sure everyone exits the next three weeks healthy.
Still, there’s a case to be made to keep Patterson for direct football reasons. To believe he can still play and contribute and compete for a roster spot. It’s an unpopular position – I might as well be asking if this is the line for you to punch me in the face – and I’m not saying I’m advocating for it. But to put on a defense for the guy, Patterson flashed before suffering an ankle injury last year.
There’s no question Patterson’s 2024 season as a whole was disappointing. Signed to take advantage of the new kickoff format, he flopped. No returner with double-digit attempts had a worse average and as a unit, Pittsburgh finished last in average. Patterson looked every bit his 33-year-old age and plodded to the finish line.
But there was a small window of time where Patterson looked spry. In fact, there was a time where Steelers fans were hollering for Patterson to be the guy over Najee Harris.
In Weeks 3 and 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts, Patterson was effective and efficient. Combined, he carried the ball 10 times for 76 yards, nearly an eight-yard average, and chipped in as a rotational receiver when lines got thin. He looked explosive with burst. In the Colts game, with Jaylen Warren injured, he was the Steelers’ best running back even if he benefitted from better blocking than Harris received.
Clips of his best runs from those two weeks to jog your memory of the early-season returns on Patterson the runner.
Midway through the Colts game, Patterson rolled his ankle and missed the next month with a sprain. When he returned, he didn’t look like the same guy. Patterson looked old and slow because he was old and slow. But was that because his NFL career is over or because of the injury?
Pittsburgh could be banking on Patterson looking like his pre-injury self in 2025. Not with a guarantee of a roster spot but to provide competition and depth should someone else get injured in the summer, something that could happen at any moment. In the return game, maybe Patterson looks better if he has an entire training camp and gets reps of the new format under his belt. Remember, he didn’t record a single in-stadium kick return until Nov. 10 last season. He missed the start of camp with an injury, Mike Tomlin didn’t give him a return in the preseason, claiming Patterson didn’t need it, and teams kicked away from him or out of the end zone pre-injury.
Patterson’s first return didn’t come until Week 10 against Washington. His attempts were miserable, no question, and Pittsburgh used him far too often late in the year when he was no longer effective (though he made a spectacular snag against Baltimore in Week 16).
For as cheap as Patterson is, it’s worth the gamble. If his struggles continue, the Steelers can cut bait in August. If he looks more like the pre-injury version of himself and better acclimated with a second year in Pittsburgh, coupled with an injury in front of him, he might stick. There’s baseline versatility as a runner, receiver, and returner, and that’s useful to keep around to maximize the offseason roster.
No question, Patterson’s time in the NFL is running thin. But there was a moment last year where he was holding off Father Time. Pittsburgh is betting on seeing that version again.
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