Steelers sign running back Cordarrelle Patterson

Cordarelle Patterson (Matthew Deery, Wikimedia Commons)

According to spotrac.com on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed running back Cordarrelle Patterson of Rock Hill, South Carolina. The terms of the deal are two years and $6 million.

Patterson is joining his sixth National Football League team. He was previously with the Minnesota Vikings from 2013 to 2016, the Oakland Raiders in 2017, the New England Patriots in 2018, the Chicago Bears from 2019 to 2020, and the Atlanta Falcons from 2021 to 2023.

In 2023, Patterson had 50 rushes for 181 rushing yards. He also had nine catches for 38 receiving yards and one touchdown catch. The touchdown reception was for two yards from Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder of Louisville, Kentucky and came in a 9-7 Falcons loss to the Carolina Panthers.

It should be noted that Patterson is quite versatile. Even though he is currently a running back, he began his NFL career as a wide receiver and kick return specialist. In fact, Patterson went to four Pro Bowls as a special teams kick returner. He played in the 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2020 Pro Bowls. In 2013 and 2016, Patterson was with the Vikings, and in 2019 and 2020, was with the Bears. Patterson has had nine career punt returns for a touchdown, and led the NFL with 825 kickoff return yards in 2019 and 1017 kickoff return yards in 2020.

Patterson is also a Super Bowl champion. In Super Bowl LII, he was on the Patriots team that beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3. Patterson had two rushes for seven rushing yards, two catches for 14 receiving yards, and one kickoff return for 38 yards.

Expect Patterson to be used in short passing yardage situations frequently. That is because the Steelers already have running backs Najee Harris of Martinez, California, and Jaylen Warren of Clinton, North Carolina on their roster.

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