Steelers Restructure TE Pat Freiermuth’s Contract

The Steelers gave Freiermuth a four-year, $48.4MM extension before the 2024 season, and they are using this contract to create some mid-offseason cap space. The team restructured Freiermuth’s deal this week, according to Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti.

Pittsburgh’s recent move will free up $4.25MM in cap space. The team was just shy of the NFL’s salary ceiling prior to this restructure, though more work will need to be done to carve out room to complete rookie signings. The Steelers are more than $1MM in the red in terms of effective cap space, per OverTheCap. The Steelers have not signed third-round quarterback Drew Allar yet.

This conversion reduces Freiermuth’s 2026 base salary to the veteran minimum and trims his cap number to $6.9MM. No void years are being added here, so future Freiermuth cap numbers are going up. He will count for $14.2MM against the Steelers’ 2027 cap and $12.6MM on the team’s 2028 payroll. The ’27 and ’28 figures are each increasing by $2.13MM, per OverTheCap.

Seeing Washington become a more prominent pass-game component and using Heyward regularly, the Steelers reduced Freiermuth’s snap share by a significant amount last season. He closed the campaign with a career-low eight starts and played 51% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps. The former second-round pick, who had logged a 69% snap rate in 2024, had never played fewer than 62% of the team’s offensive snaps.

Teams expressed trade interest in Freiermuth in early March; this report came before Pittsburgh released Smith, who remains a free agent. Washington, who played 57% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps last season, is viewed as an extension candidate. No guaranteed money remains on Freiermuth’s deal beyond 2026. This restructure would make a 2027 separation a bit more costly; a trade next year would tag the team with nearly $9MM in dead money.

The Steelers also added two high-profile receiving pieces this offseason, trading for Michael Pittman Jr. — and giving the possession receiver a two-year, $35MM extension — and using a second-round pick on slot target Germie Bernard. Smith and Heyward’s exits point to Freiermuth seeing a usage uptick under McCarthy, but how the team proceeds with Washington will be worth monitoring regarding Freiermuth’s future ahead of his age-28 season.