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Panthers Sign Cotchery To Five Year Deal

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The Panthers signed former Steelers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a five year deal yesterday.

There were early reports stating that it was a two year deal, but those were not correct. Cotchery’s contract is a 5 year deal, totaling $8.015 Mil. The deal includes a $2.25 Mil guaranteed signing bonus. The deal also includes a $50,000 workout bonus in 2015. Here is a breakdown of the contract.

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Prorated Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Cotchery, Jerricho”, 2014, “$1,250,000”, “$450,000”, “$1,700,000”
“Cotchery, Jerricho”, 2015, “$1,450,000”, “$450,000”, “$1,950,000”
“Cotchery, Jerricho”, 2016, “$1,000,000”, “$450,000”, “$1,450,000”

“Cotchery, Jerricho”, 2017, “$1,000,000”, “$450,000”, “$1,450,000”

“Cotchery, Jerricho”, 2018, “$1,015,000”, “$450,000”, “$1,465,000”

[/table]

As you can see, this is a good deal for Cotchery, and a better one than the Steelers would have offered certainly. On top of that, Cotchery played at NC State in college, and has friends and family there. About the signing, Cotchery said, “I’m home. I’m coming back home.”

“I left Ben Roethlisberger. If you’re going to leave a quarterback like that, you better be sure that you’re going to go to someone that can play at a high level.”, Cotchery told the Panthers website.

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Steelers Staff Busy At Notre Dame Pro Day

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Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, Joey Porter, and other Steelers staff members were in attendance today to see Notre Dame’s prospects work out in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams. The Steelers were no doubt interested in seeing players like NT Louis Nix III, DE Stephon Tuitt, TE Troy Niklas, LB Prince Shembo, CB Bennett Jackson, OL Zack Martin, RB George Atkinson III, and more in person.

Tomlin was one of two head coaches in attendance, and Colbert one of the few GMs. Joey Porter was also on hand to help with player evaluation. Scouts from all 32 teams there also. The event received a great deal of media coverage, much of which found it’s way onto Twitter. Here’s Porter and Colbert keeping track of ten yard splits.

Here is Colbert collaborating with scouts after a 40 yard dash.


Possibly the highlight of the day was when head coach Mike Tomlin sat in as center while Louis Nix did drills.


A scout for the 49ers reportedly asked Tomlin to stand in for the drill. When asked about the experience, Nix said, “I heard Mike Tomlin liked big thighs…I tried to show them off for him. That’s why I wore my tights.” Nix, who is never without jokes, went on to say, “It wasn’t intimidating…I just wanted to look in his eyes and show him I am ready.” A lot of people have mocked Nix to the Steelers with the 15th pick, a scenario I’ve never agreed with personally. Nix weighed in at 331 today. Official times have not been released yet, but you can see Nix running the 40 and doing the bench below.

It probably seemed like Nix was the star of the show, and while that might be partially true, several attendees didn’t participate in drills. Stephon Tuitt showed up with his foot in a boot, due to a recent surgery he had to mend a foot fracture. TE Troy Niklas also didn’t participate because he is recovering from a sports hernia.
As a side note, Mike Golic Jr., who spent training camp with the Steelers last year, was also there working out for scouts. His dad was also there to cheer him on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpLaAId0zIU

NFL Closes The Gate On Sidelinegate

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The Steelers have announced that the NFL will not penalize the team a draft pick for Mike Tomlin’s sideline step during the Thanksgiving night game against the Ravens. The league fined Mike Tomlin $100,000 for the incident, but originally left the case open. The NFL had said that they were going to leave matters open, and wait until after the final draft order was decided to make a final ruling.

While there seemed to be close to a 0% chance of it happening, it’s ridiculous that the league would wait this long to make a final ruling on the matter. Steeler Nation can now make a collective sigh of relief.

Steelers Hosted CB Chris Owens Earlier This Week

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The Steelers had CB Chris Owens in for a visit earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan. Owens also had a visit with the Tampa Bucs earlier in the week, as well. The veteran CB was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft.

While undersized, Owens is a decent cornerback. He was with the Browns last season until being released on waivers after suffering a knee injury. While nothing may likely come of this, the Steelers are in the market for low cost depth additions of this type.

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Maurice Jones-Drew Leaves Steelers Visit Without Contract

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Free agent running back Maurice Jones-Drew has concluded his visit with the Steelers today, leaving the facility again without a contract. This was expected, but you have to wonder why the two parties even carried on with a second day of meetings. The Steelers will no doubt be exploring more options to add to the lack of depth behind Le’Veon Bell.

Their own free agents, La Rod Stephens-Howling and Felix Jones are options, though, if they did go that way, I wouldn’t expect them signed in the immediate future. Neither running back is likely going to command much interest in free agency. There are other free agent running backs still on the market, so the team will probably be hosting one or more in the near future.

Report: Jerricho Cotchery Finalizing Deal With Carolina Panthers

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After having a long visit with the Carolina Panthers, WR Jerricho Cotchery was said to be deciding between re-signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, or accepting an offer from the Panthers. According to multiple mainstream media sources, the veteran receiver has made his choice. He is reportedly finalizing a deal with the Carolina Panthers.

It will be interesting to see the terms of the deal when they become available. Stay tuned for updates.

*Update- His agent has confirmed the deal via Twitter.

Maurice Jones-Drew To Return On Thursday

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Updating an earlier report, the NFL Network is reporting that running back Maurice Jones-Drew will be returning to the Steelers facility tomorrow.

I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much about this if you’re in the MJD camp. It seems a little far fetched that he’ll sign to a deal that the Steelers will be willing to pay. Stranger things have happened though. Maurice Jones-Drew and Le’Veon Bell have the same agent, so there’s that I guess.

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Maurice Jones-Drew, Lance Moore Leave Without Contracts

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Maurice Jones-Drew and Lance Moore had visits with the Steelers today. According to Ed Bouchette, both free agents left without contracts.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Jones-Drew is said to be taking his time and shopping for the right team, and the Steelers don’t really have the available cap space to sign him at the moment. The same could really be said for Moore. He doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to sign, and other teams have expressed interest. He also recently visited with the New England Patriots.

Right now, the Steelers are sitting just above $2 Mil in cap space. With the lack of depth at wide receiver, defensive line, and running back, it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to think that they will be looking to make a move in the near future, to clear additional cap space to make some signings.

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DE Alex Carrington Had Visit With The Raiders And Browns

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Free agent defensive lineman Alex Carrington, who had a visit with the Steelers last week, had a visit with the Browns today according to Ohio.com.

Carrington also had a visit with the Raiders before meeting with the Browns, but left without a contract (obviously). The St. Louis Rams are also reportedly interested in him, but no meeting has been scheduled as of this writing.

The Browns seem like the most likely suitor for Carrington, due to his relationship with newly hired Coach Mike Pettine. Pettine was the defensive coordinator in Buffalo last year. Obviously Pettine saw enough in Carrington to name him starter, and Carrington is very familiar with Pettine’s defensive philosophy. While Carrington was reported to have passed the physical in Pittsburgh, Bob Labriola says that he has not completely recovered from his quadriceps injury.

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Ben And Ashley Roethlisberger Announce Birth Of Daughter Today

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Ben Roethlisberger and his wife Ashley welcomed their second child into the world this morning. The couple announced the birth of their daughter, Baylee Marie, via the quarterback’s official website and Twitter account.

“She weighed in at 6lbs, 12 oz and is 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great!”, the family posted on Ben’s website.