Happy belated birthday to Pittsburgh Steelers veteran kick returner and running back Cordarrelle Patterson — who has been the subject of cut speculation since the organization brought in a younger RB/returner in Kenneth Gainwell in free agency.
Perhaps Patterson is feeling that the writing is on the wall as well, because he had a curious response to his team birthday shout-out on March 17. The Steelers social media team posted a birthday graphic of Patterson on the franchise’s Instagram story on Monday, rather than the page itself.
For those that don’t use Instagram, a story post disappears after 24 hours, while a normal post would remain on your page forever, unless it were deleted at a later date. In a story reply — which was captured and shared by Steelers Depot on X — Patterson wrote a message over his birthday shout-out, seemingly taking exception to the fact that it was sent out on Pittsburgh’s story.
“Damn I couldn’t even get a post on the page n [expletive] lol,” Patterson commented on his personal Instagram story. Adding: “Yall know something I don’t know????” With four crying laughing emojis.
For reference, the Steelers do sometimes post birthday shout-outs on the Instagram page itself and have recently done so for long-time members of the organization like kicker Chris Boswell and head coach Mike Tomlin.
Patterson didn’t make the cut, and even if he’s joking to some extent, that seemed to catch his attention enough for him to respond.
Cordarrelle Patterson Throws Gasoline on the Fire as Birthday Response Angers Steelers Fans
Steelers nation already seems fed up with Patterson after a relatively ineffective campaign, and this birthday reply didn’t help silence calls for him to be released.
“Main character syndrome. why is he still on the roster anyway?” One fan questioned.
Another said: “We should’ve let him go. Gainwell returns kicks. [Jaylen] Warren returns kicks. If it wasn’t for Arthur Smith’s love affair for this guy, he’d be gone.”
While a third simply reacted by predicting: “You’re cut buddy.” And a fourth reminded that Patterson is a “34 year old man” responding like this.
On the flip side, one or two fans did come to the four-time All-Pro returner’s defense.
“The team slept on @ceeflashpee84 [Patterson] all year,” a supporter wrote. “We bought a utility knife to keep the scotch tape in the drawer company. It’s a shame. I’ll die on this hill, dude is very talented. Just didn’t get used cause Arthur smith is an [expletive]hat.”
While another guessed that Patterson was just kidding around.
“Some people like to joke and bust balls, idk why social media people have such a hard time understanding this concept,” they noted.
Will Steelers Keep Cordarrelle Patterson in 2025?
The Steelers have not released Patterson yet, so there’s a chance they keep him for Organized Team Activities and training camp, allowing him to compete for his job.
The veteran was signed to a two-year, $6 million contract in 2024, just after the kickoff changes were announced. Patterson never ended up giving Pittsburgh much of an advantage on kick returns, however, averaging just 21.8 yards per return last season.
In the same role, Gainwell averaged 25.3 yards per kick return with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024. The Steelers could also choose to get younger and draft a prospect or two with ability as a returner at either running back or wide receiver.
Per Over the Cap, Pittsburgh can save $2.8 million in cap space by cutting Patterson at any point this offseason. The dead cap charge would only be $950,000 if they were to release him.
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