Where Has Markus Wheaton Gone and What Does It Mean for His Steelers Future?

It seemed like 2015 would be Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Markus Wheaton's time to shine. Given a dedicated role as the team's slot receiver in a high-powered, pass-heavy offense, Wheaton entered the year on the precipice of a breakout season. Instead, he's mostly disappeared into the woodwork, and now it looks like his job security for 2016 could be in jeopardy. 

Wheaton, drafted by Pittsburgh in the third round in 2013, had a strong sophomore showing in 2014, catching 53 passes on 86 targets, for 644 yards and two touchdowns. A clear role had been carved out for him on Pittsburgh's defense, despite the Steelers boasting league-leading receiver Antonio Brown, big-play threat Martavis Bryant, a highly productive pass-catching running back in Le'Veon Bell and the always reliable tight end Heath Miller.

But Wheaton's future became a bit more murky with the team selecting receiver Sammie Coates in 2015's draft, especially considering that the Steelers have never been all that beholden to retaining their own receivers when their contracts expire.

Year	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec.%	Yds.	YPR	TD
2013	13	6	46.2%	64	10.7	0
2014	86	53	61.6%	644	12.2	2
2015	32	16	50.0%	273	17.1	1
Total	131	75	57.3%	981	13.1	3

And it's murkier still given how little of an impact he's made so far this year. Even with Bell suspended for the first two games of the season (and now on injured reserve with a knee injury) and Bryant suspended for four (and not taking the field until Week 6), Wheaton hasn't been a fixture in the team's passing game.

Though he's played 422 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, he's caught only 16 passes on 32 targets, for 273 yards and a score. In contrast, Darrius Heyward-Bey has played just 313 snaps but has been thrown to 31 times, with 17 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns. And Bryant had 22 grabs already, for 440 yards and five scores, though he's only appeared in five games thus far.

This is a year in which Wheaton needs to make himself felt on the field, not withering into the woodwork. Though he does have one year left on his four-year, $2.81 million rookie deal and an $842,844 salary cap hit for 2016, only $147,844 of that is guaranteed—as in, part of his prorated signing bonus. As such, the Steelers only have to absorb under $150,000 in dead money next year should they cut him.

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Given that Wheaton is currently doing less to help his team than he did in 2014 while making $100,000 more than he did a year ago, increasing his payday to get less out of his contributions makes no sense for the Steelers. And with Pittsburgh constantly abutting the upper limits of its salary-cap space, saving nearly $700,000 that it can better spend elsewhere or keep for later is looking far more attractive than keeping Wheaton on board.

Plus, the Steelers have Coates. While Coates was initially drafted in part because of the impending Bryant suspension and the possibility that he violates league policy again, opening him up to a year-long ban, he can easily step in and take over Wheaton's job. And if he can prove capable of catching more than 50 percent of the passes thrown to him—Wheaton's current catch rate—then it makes sense to turn to the younger player. Especially because Coates is set to make a similar amount of money as Wheaton in 2016.

With Coates waiting in the wings, Wheaton is becoming increasingly expendable. And he's not doing enough on the field to distinguish himself as a must-retain, key member of Pittsburgh's offense, Coates or no Coates. If the Steelers showed no fear in letting Mike Wallace or Emmanuel Sanders walk, then Wheaton's hopes to stick around are certainly waning.