The first week of training camp is in the books for the Chicago Bears, and the attention has turned over to Week 2. It was an up-and-down week, but that's to be expected as players get acclimated to a new scheme.
There will be a flurry of transactions that will happen across the league in the matter of days and weeks, but what happened on Monday doesn't typically happen.
When players get released, it usually comes from local reporters or members of the national media, but that didn't go down for an ex-Bear.
WR/RB Cordarrelle Patterson went on X and posted that he was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He wrote, "Breaking news Pittsburgh Steelers release old washed up Cordarrelle Patterson on his day off!!!"
Breaking news❗️❗️❗️Pittsburgh Steelers release old washed up cordarrelle patterson on his day off!!!
— cordarrelle patterson (@ceeflashpee84) July 28, 2025
Ex-Bear Cordarrelle Patterson Announced His Own Release
Patterson signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Steelers in 2024. In his lone season in Pittsburgh, he posted 135 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards, and one total touchdown. He was a veteran presence in the backfield and played in 18% of the snaps. Pittsburgh added Kaleb Johnson, Kenneth Gainwell, and Trey Sermon this offseason to join Jaylen Warren in the backfield.
With younger legs on the team, they decided to part ways with Patterson. The 34-year-old will now hit the open market, and it makes you think about how things will unfold.
Patterson played for the Bears during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In those seasons, he was a back-to-back All-Pro as a kick returner for the team. The Tennessee product racked up 825 kick return yards in 2019 before taking a jump in 2020.
In the following campaign, Patterson led the league in kick return yards (1,017) and ranked second with a 29.1-yard average. He also had a 104-yard touchdown return in a Week 10 win over the Vikings.
Even though he only played with the Bears for two seasons, he provided them with an electric playmaker who gave fans something to constantly cheer about.
Players revealing that they've been released isn't the way things usually go, making this situation more interesting. Regardless, Bears fans are hoping their former All-Pro could land on his feet somewhere. There are already fans asking for him to come back, but that is more like wishful thinking at this point.