The Pittsburgh Steelers might not have to worry about finding a new tight end for a while.
Second-round 2021 NFL draft pick Pat Freiermuth appeared on “Around the 412” on April 3 and revealed that he wants to spend his career with the team.
“I want to be in Pittsburgh for the rest of my career,” Freiermuth said. “I want to continue to play for Pittsburgh because it reminds me of where I’m from and how I was raised. Growing up and going through the hard times and good times together. I feel like the Pittsburgh media and fanbase and everyone kind of does that together. I feel very at peace and very comfortable in Pittsburgh. So, hopefully it shakes out the way that I want it to in the next coming year or whenever that may be.”
An Uneven Start to Pat Freiermuth’s Career
In his rookie season, Freiermuth made 60 catches for 497 yards and 7 touchdowns to make the Steelers feel good about their decision to draft him in round two.
He followed that up with an even more impressive second year in the league. During the 2022 season he brought his numbers up to 63 catches for 732 yards despite a lot of inconsistency at quarterback.
But his numbers dropped in 2023 in a big way. An injury limited Freiermuth to just 12 games, and he wasn’t able to make much of an impact in the games he played. He made just 32 catches for 308 yards in his third NFL season.
Despite the regression in 2023, Freiermuth has proven he can be an asset even when being thrown to by a bad quarterback.
Freiermuth Not Much of a Decision for the Steelers
The Steelers will have a lot of big decisions to make at the end of the 2024 season. Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both have deals that are set to expire after the season.
Running back Najee Harris will be a free agent if the Steelers don’t exercise his fifth-year option. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward is also set to become a free agent after next season.
Extending Freiermuth should be one of the Steelers’ easiest decisions.
The team doesn’t currently have a replacement on their roster. Connor Heyward had just 23 catches for 167 yards as the TE2 during his second year in the league and only 12 catches in his rookie year.
Darnell Washington only made 7 catches as a rookie tight end.
The team invested a second rounder in Freiermuth for a reason, and that reason wasn’t to get the first four years from him at a position that is known to develop slowly.
He could also be a much larger part of the offense next season, as tight ends have succeeded in Arthur Smith‘s offense in the past.
It would make sense for the Steelers to keep a starter at tight end who’s shown talent early in his career and is already on the roster. Whether they keep him for his whole NFL career remains to be seen.
