The Steelers have signed another target for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Wide receiver Sammie Coates has agreed to a four-year contract with the team two weeks after they made him a third-round pick. With Coates under contract, the Steelers have signed seven of their eight picks with only seventh-round safety Gerod Holliman still without a contract.
Coates give the Steelers a speedy option to deploy alongside Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton. Coates averaged 21.4 yards per catch during his career at Auburn and posted a whopping 54.1 yards on his seven touchdowns during Auburn’s run to the national title game in 2013.
The downside is that Coates’s hands were not particularly reliable while he was in college. Running past defenders doesn’t matter all that much if you can’t do anything with the ball when it comes your way, so Coates will need to solve that issue to earn a regular role in the lineup.