The Steelers moved quickly to lock up the core members of its skill-position battery, one that again was ravaged by injuries come playoff time. But the team has not progressed much on a re-up for Markus Wheaton, one of the injured performers, and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets the wideout will likely hit the free agent market on Thursday.
Wheaton stands to join a host of complementary receivers on a crowded wideout market. The tier below the high-end talents includes pass-catchers like Robert Woods, Kendall Wright, Kamar Aiken and Victor Cruz, among others. PFR’s Zach Links rates Wheaton as the No. 8 best available wideout — moving up after the deals for Brandon Marshall and Pierre Garcon emerged. Wheaton falls into this category, having been the Steelers’ No. 2 wideout for multiple years alongside Antonio Brown.
A fifth-year target, Wheaton is coming off a forgettable contract year. Pittsburgh placed Wheaton on IR with a shoulder injury in November. He played in just three games last season, joining Ladarius Green, Martavis Bryant and ultimately Le’Veon Bell as projected Steelers starters who were unavailable for various reasons in the AFC championship game. Between 2014 and ’15, though, the former third-round pick averaged 696.5 yards. Wheaton averaged 17 yards per catch in 2015.