Steelers double down on Pat Freiermuth after releasing Pro Bowler who was a misfit since day one in Pittsburgh
The era of three tight ends in Pittsburgh has ended.
Last Summer, the Pittsburgh Steelers were looking at their pass-catching unit, and they thought it needed some juice. After trading away George Pickens, it was clear that the team intended to make Pat Freiermuth the No. 2 option in the receiving game.
But in terms of pure pass catching, the Steelers wanted to get more dynamic. So they shipped Minkah Fitzpatrick back to South Beach, and in return, they received what would become his replacement via Jalen Ramsey, and what they believed to be a Swiss Army Knife on offense. Only the latter portion never happened, and now the Steelers are moving on.
Steelers cut TE Jonnu Smith ahead of free agency
This move comes with little surprise. After Omar Khan reassured the media about Freiermuth’s status at last week’s NFL Combine, it was a matter of if, not when, Smith would be released. The idea of Smith was a good one, but when put into practice, it fell flat.
Smith was supposed to be the Steelers’ move tight end. Coming off a career year with the Dolphins that saw him record over 700 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, the goal was to have him be a power slot, or flex tight end.
Instead, all that happened was that Smith and Freiermuth cannibalized each other’s target share, and Darnell Washington was left as the lost reliable option by the end of the year.
Smith recorded just 222 receiving yards in 2025, and more worrisome, he could never get on the same page with Aaron Rodgers. Even late in the year, there were mental errors between the two of them. That, along with the obvious elephant in the room, made this decision easy for Pittsburgh.
Steelers save $7 million in cap space by cutting Jonnu Smith
Not only does this move signal a future with the tandem of Washington and Freiermuth, it gives the Steelers close to $50 million in effective cap space before the league year even begins. Smith won’t be out of work very long, but between the financials and the lack of fit from the very beginning, you could see this move coming from a mile away.
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