This is the fourth in a series examining the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, position by position, heading into the offseason.
Today: Tight ends
When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed tight end Pat Freiermuth to a five-year contract worth nearly $50 million in September, it was done with the expectation that he would become a bigger part of the team’s offense.
Despite the lack of a proven No. 2 wide receiver on the Steelers roster, that prospect for Freiermuth didn’t materialize until late in the 2024 season. Freiermuth set a career high with 65 catches, leading the team in that category, but it took 15 receptions over the final two weeks for the 26-year-old tight end to reach that figure.
Freiermuth was featured in the red zone, as evidenced by his seven touchdown catches, and he finished second on the team with 653 receiving yards. Still, given the way the offense sputtered during a season-ending five-game losing streak, including the postseason, it left the impression that the Steelers could have — and should have — done more to get Freiermuth involved in the playmaking.
The final snapshot of Freiermuth’s season came when he was limited to three catches for 15 yards in the Steelers’ 28-14 loss at Baltimore in the wild-card round. It transpired after he didn’t hold onto a fourth-down pass in the season finale against Cincinnati, which ended the game with the Steelers trying to get into position to kick a game-winning field goal.
“I’m happy with my role,” Freiermuth said a few days after the Steelers’ season ended without a playoff win for the eighth consecutive year. “I set a career high in catches and tied my career high in touchdowns. Obviously, there were plays left out for me to make that I didn’t make. You can talk about my drop against the Bengals on the last play and starting the game off against the Ravens with a drop.
“There are certain situations where I could have been better for sure. That’s all part of the growth and learning experience.”
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When Arthur Smith joined the Steelers as offensive coordinator, he arrived with the reputation of using multiple tight ends, and he held true to form by using Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt, along with Freiermuth, in various packages.
But with the Steelers spending the season trying to identify a viable secondary receiving threat behind George Pickens, it seemed like Freiermuth often was an overlooked part of the game plan.
The former second-round draft pick from Penn State had eight catches for 85 yards in the finale against Cincinnati, which came on the heels of a seven-catch, 60-yard effort against Kansas City. In the previous 15 games, however, Freiermuth exceeded 60 receiving yards once. Only twice did he have as many as five catches in a game.
Among NFL tight ends, Freiermuth finished eighth in receptions and 12th in yards. His seven touchdown catches tied for fourth.
“I’m happy with the way the trajectory of my game is going,” Freiermuth said. “I’ve got to continue to be a leader and continue to grow as my career grows. A lot of positives for myself, but we didn’t finish with a Super Bowl title so it’s obviously back to drawing board and figuring out ways to get better.”
Washington, in his second season with the Steelers, set modest career highs with 19 catches, 200 yards and his first NFL touchdown. He also was on the field for 52% of the offensive snaps.
His increase in playing time and targets came at the expense of Heyward, whose third NFL season featured just six catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. He played 18% of the snaps after being on the field 38% of the time in 2023.
Pruitt, who joined the Steelers after playing for Smith in Atlanta, was limited to 12 games because of injury and primarily was used in a blocking role. His production mirrored Heyward’s — six catches, 40 yards, one score while playing 34% of the snaps.
All but Pruitt are under contract for the 2025 season, making it unlikely the Steelers will look for a high-profile tight end in free agency or the draft.
Under contract: Pat Freiermuth ($12.885 million cap hit), Darnell Washington ($1.46 million), Connor Heyward ($1.138 million)
Impending free agents: MyCole Pruitt, Matt Sokol
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Outside perspective: “It’s a down year for the tight end market, with only a few starting options at the position hitting free agency. A pair of tight ends could be selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, too, further pushing down free agency at the position.” — SB Nation in its offseason free agency rankings.