When the Panthers released the best player in their history in March, it took a week before they signed a new receiver. But Jerricho Cotchery wasn’t meant to fill Steve Smith’s shoes.During his previous 10 NFL seasons, Cotchery was never the best wideout on either of his two teams. His purpose in Carolina certainly wasn’t to succeed a legend.”Since I was the first guy to sign here, everyone looked at it like, ‘Oh, he’s replacing Steve.’ I’m like, ‘We’re not even similar players, this guy’s a Hall of Famer,’” Cotchery said this week. “I wasn’t thinking about replacing anyone. That didn’t even cross my mind until people just kept bringing it up.”
Jerricho Cotchery, the Picture of a Perfect Panther
