Steelers Extend TE Darnell Washington

Measuring in as a 6-foot-7, 260-pound five-star recruit out of Las Vegas, Washington committed to Georgia and arrived in Athens with lofty expectations. After two years, though, Washington had only notched 17 receptions for 320 yards and a touchdowns in 21 games played; he missed some time after undergoing surgery for a minor foot fracture. Staying healthy enough to appear in 15 games as a junior, Washington finished 2022 with 28 receptions for 454 yards and two touchdowns before declaring for the draft and landing in Pittsburgh as a third-round pick.

So far, Washington has shown an improved ability to remain on the field, appearing in 50 of a possible 51 games in Years 1-3 and starting 29 of those contests. Over his first two years in the NFL, he was used primarily as a blocking tight end. Over that time, he saw 804 blocking snaps to 330 passing assignments, recording 26 catches for 261 yards and a touchdown over 34 games. In 2025, Washington saw a much more balanced workload, splitting his time fairly evenly between both responsibilities and reeling in 31 passes for 364 yards and a touchdown.

Having spent the first two years of his career behind Pat Freiermuth — who signed his own four-year, $48.4MM extension two years ago — and veteran Connor Heyward, Washington delivered his biggest season in Year 3 despite the offseason acquisition of Jonnu Smith. Joining his fifth team in six years, Smith had just come off a career-best Pro Bowl campaign with the Dolphins in which he recorded 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. He finished this year with seven more catches and one more touchdown than Washington but amassed 142 fewer yards and was released at the end of the year.

With Freiermuth and Washington secured atop the depth chart and Smith out, the rest of the room is populated by 2024 seventh-round pick Jaheim Bell, 2025 undrafted signee JJ Galbreath, and undrafted rookies Chamon Metayer and Lake McRee.

Washington’s deal comes a day after the team extended pass rusher Nick Herbig. According to Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show, Washington’s deal “came together really quickly” after “(picking) up significantly over the past couple hours,” and the team has “no plans to stop spending money this offseason.” Per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers had eyes on five extension for the offseason, including those of Washington, Herbig, and kicker Chris Boswell. With three done, the final two remaining deals to get done would be for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton.