Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2026 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with two players each day between June 13 and July 28. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

C ZACH FRAZIER

Experience/age: third season, turns 25 before the season starts

Contract status: $2.06 million cap hit in 2026, signed through 2027

The past: A three-year starter at West Virginia who twice was named first-team all-Big 12 and once second-team all-Big 12, Frazier was a second-round pick of the Steelers in 2024. He earned the starting job before the start of the regular season — in part, aided by an injury suffered by veteran Nate Herbig — and hasn’t looked back. He’s only missed two of the Steelers’ 36 games (including playoffs) since he was drafted, both of those the result of an ankle injury suffered as a rookie.

Herbig was voted the Steelers’ rookie of the year in 2024 and was on the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie team for the league. Last season, Frazier graded out by Pro Football Focus as the NFL’s sixth-best center overall and its second-best in pass blocking.

2026 outlook: Part of a draft class with tackle Troy Fautanu (first round) and guard Mason McCormick (fourth round), Frazier is one-third of what has the look of a long-term young core of a Steelers’ offensive line. Fautanu and McCormick are moving from the right side of the line to the left this season, but Frazier remains a constant.

The Steelers have a long lineage of centers, from the Hall of Fame likes of Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson and (candidate for future induction) Maurkice Pouncey. Frazier hasn’t quite reached that rarefied air yet, and it would be asking a lot to suggest he will. But he at very least has shown he can serve in his role as the “quarterback” of the Steelers’ offensive line for a decade or more, and that the Steelers finally found a worthy replacement for Pouncey after a pair of whiffs in that vain in Kendrick Green and Mason Cole.

If Frazier continues his career upward trajectory in Year 3, expect a massive contract extension to come next summer. Even if Frazier has another durable, workmanlike season, he’ll cement himself as part of the Steelers’ long-range plans.