Three days after suffering a broken forearm, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington was placed on the injured reserve list.
The move effectively ends Washington’s season — although, technically, he would be eligible to return to practice after the AFC championship game, should the Steelers advance that far.
The Steelers need to win Sunday night’s regular-season finale at home against the Baltimore Ravens to qualify for the playoffs.
Washington ends his 2025 regular season with 31 catches for 364 receiving yards and a touchdown. Each at least doubled his prior career totals over his first two NFL seasons.
The 6-foot-7 Washington, who has said publicly he weighs 311 pounds, had not previously missed a game in a career that began as a 2023 third-round pick of the Steelers. This season, he ascended into the role as the Steelers’ most-deployed tight end. Washington has played 57.1% of the team’s offensive snaps.
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One of the team’s most trusted blockers, Washington will be eligible for a contract extension in 2026 — and if he does not sign one will be a free agent the following spring.
In the corresponding roster moves Wednesday, veteran offensive lineman Jack Driscoll was signed to the active roster off the Steelers’ practice squad and tight end Jaheim Bell was signed to their practice squad.
Driscoll’s experience consists of 67 games and 18 starts with the Philadelphia Eagles between 2020-2024. He can play tackle or guard and over the past three games was in uniform for the Steelers as a practice-squad elevation. He did not get into any of the contests.
The 6-foot-2, 241-pound Bell was a seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots last year. He played in 15 games as a rookie — mostly on special teams — making two catches for 20 yards. Cut at the end of this past summer’s New England training camp, Bell spent an October week on the practice squad of the Eagles.