The Pittsburgh Steelers are lucky to have a lot of their young offensive core still playing on their rookie contracts. However, these players will eventually be expecting a larger payday when their rookie contracts are set to expire. Players such as Kenny Pickett, Najee Harris, George Pickens, Broderick Jones and Pat Freiermuth are all players on their first contract that will likely be priorities for the Steelers to re-sign when the time comes. One of the first of these players that will have an expiring contract is Freiermuth, who will be a free agent after the 2024 NFL season. With other tight ends around the league getting paid, it looks like Freiermuth could be on the receiving end of a big pay day.
(NFL.com)
Pat Freiermuth celebrating a TD vs the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football
Freiermuth was picked by the Steelers in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. This means his rookie contract doesn't give the Steelers the opportunity to pick up a fifth-year option which would be much cheaper than signing him to a longer and more expensive contract extension. The Jacksonville Jaguars just signed their star tight end, Evan Engram, to a new contract.
The deal is for three years and is worth $42.5 million which comes out to almost 14 million per season. There is 24 million of the contract that is guaranteed. This new deal now has Engram ranked as the fifth-highest paid tight end in football.
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What Jaguars' Evan Engram's new contract means for Steelers' Pat Freiermuth
Engram is coming off of a season where he achieved a career high in receptions while recording 766 yards and four touchdowns while being a reliable target for Jaguars' quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. Last season was the first time Engram reached the milestone of 750 receiving yards in his six-year career which is a mark Freiermuth has yet to hit as his career high is 732 yards. That number is expected to go up as he and Pickett grow their chemistry together.
What Does Engram's Contract Mean For The Steelers And Freiermuth?
Freiermuth's career statistics thus far haven't been spectacular aside from being on the receiving end of seven touchdowns his rookie year, however there hasn't been much consistency within the offense during his first two seasons. His rookie season was the last year of Ben Roethlisberger and the offense was extremely dependent on the running game and short-game passing, therefore Freiermuth wasn't able to stretch the field and show much of his explosive athleticism.
Due to the tameness we saw from the Steelers' offense during the 2021 season, Freiermuth was only able to rack up 497 receiving yards on 60 receptions while catching an impressive seven touchdowns.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth has quickly become one of the best in the NFL at his position.
We got to see more of Freiermuth during his second season in the NFL in 2022. He tallied 63 receptions that went for 732 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the jump in yardage from his 2021 campaign, it's fair to say that Freiermuth's potential is much higher than we have seen. The Steelers' offense was inconsistent during the 2022 NFL season with Mitchell Trubisky starting the first four games of the season before being replaced by Pickett during the team's Week 4 match-up with the New York Jets.
Pickett was the Steelers' quarterback for the remainder of the season besides coming out of a couple games due to injury and missing a game against the Carolina Panthers as a result of a concussion. The inconsistency of who was playing quarterback for the Steelers during 2022 was assumably frustrating for Freiermuth and any other pass catchers.
The 2023 NFL season will be the first time Freiermuth will have the opportunity to play in a consistent and opened up offense since entering the NFL in 2021. After having a full offseason with Pickett and more experience under his belt in Matt Canada's offense, we can expect Freiermuth to look like a much improved tight end during the 2023 season that will certainly earn himself a large contract once he becomes a free agent in 2025. Freiermuth should be expecting to earn himself a contract at least at the level of the one signed by Engram, and possibly even larger.
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