A recent report suggests the Steelers may be pulling out the checkbook for the wrong player
The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into a make-or-break season for the current team. With multiple players, and even coaches heading into the final year of their current deal, how well the team and the individuals within those parameters perform will be determinants in the decisions of Pittsburgh's front office. Yet, tight end Pat Freiermuth is […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into a make-or-break season for the current team.
With multiple players, and even coaches heading into the final year of their current deal, how well the team and the individuals within those parameters perform will be determinants in the decisions of Pittsburgh's front office.
Yet, tight end Pat Freiermuth is rumored to be on tap for a lucrative deal, when the man he helps blocks for [Najee Harris] just had his fifth-year option declined.
Here's why that's bad business:
Pat Freiermuth is in line for an extension
“I do," Ray Fittipaldo of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette told The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on 93.7 The Fan when asked if he thought a Freiermuth extension gets done. "They like Pat, and Pat is a big part of this football team. I know he was injured, and I know his production was down. It might not be at the number that Pat maybe originally thought he was going to get before last season. I look at the Cole Kmet deal. He plays for the Bears, and I want to say he was around $12 or $13 million on his extension last summer. I think that is a pretty good number for Freiermuth as well.”
Here's the thing, Cole Kmet averages $12.5m per year in contract value, ranking ninth in the league. And while Freiermuth's ceiling is arguably higher, to say he's among the top 10 tight ends in the NFL is a little rich.
His second season in the league saw him total over 700 yards, and his first season showed how viable of a red zone threat he can be when he recorded seven TDs. But Freiermuth has yet to put it all together and prove he can be consistent as a pass catcher, run blocker, and red zone threat.
That's not to say he can't. In fact, with Arthur Smith and his run-heavy, tight-end-centric scheme, there is reason to believe he will have the best season of his career.
But if the Steelers' reasoning for not paying Najee Harris was because they wanted to see how he would perform in the offense, then why would you pay Freiermuth, who hasn't been half as good at his position compared to Najee before seeing how he performs in the same offense?
Stick with the plan, see how Freiemuth does in the last year of his deal, just like Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, James Daniels, and many others, and decide what to do in 2025.
