Category: Pat Freiermuth

Freiermuth could breakout on MNF’s belated National Tight Ends Day

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth will be celebrating National Tightends Day one day late, as Pittsburgh headlines Monday Night Football.

Tight ends around the league were truly celebrating their day on October 27th.  National Tight Ends Day, falling on the fourth Sunday in October, went off with a bang in Week 8.  Several elite tight end performances were showcased across the NFL, such as Tampa Bay’s Cade Otton, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle, Arizona’s Trey McBride, and Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, just to name a few.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end Pat Freiermuth missed out on the celebration, as Pittsburgh didn’t have the opportunity to play on Sunday, and  instead host the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.

Freiermuth hasn’t had the breakout season fans were hoping for the young TE, and has only gone over 50-yards receiving twice in 2024 thus far.

Steelers QB Russell Wilson provides elite-level signal calling and could provide Friermuth an opportunity to dominate on his belated celebration of National Tight Ends day.

Will Freiermuth finally have his breakout game in 2024?  While the Giants may present a potential trap game for the Steel City, the Pittsburgh tight end could see additional targets and splash play opportunities heading into his positional unit’s belated celebration on MNF.

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Stats suggest Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth could open 2024 season on high note

PFF stats suggest Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth could open the season on a high note, if one player doesn’t rain on his parade.

Predictions and forecasts have been made, but no one truly knows what to expect from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024. Several coaching staff changes have made it nearly impossible.

One of the significant staff changes is coordinator Arthur Smith, who historically runs a tight-end friendly offensive. Pat Freiermuth will be the beneficiary if that’s how the season plays out.

Pro Football Focus stats suggest Freiermuth could open the season on a high note — if one player doesn’t rain on his parade. Strong safety Justin Simmons, who the Falcons added on Aug. 18, is one of the best at his position in reading quarterbacks and defending tight ends. Simmons is entering his ninth season, eight of which were with Russell Wilson‘s former Denver Broncos team.

An April tweet by former Steelers great Antonio Brown tied Simmons to the Black and Gold, but having DeShon Elliot on the roster made it a long shot.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Steelers/status/1830716255294124268

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Is Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth about to get paid?

Pittsburgh Steelers Te Pat Freiermuth is heading into the final year of his rookie deal.

Like Najee Harris and Cam Heyward, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth is heading into the final year of his current contract. Freiermuth is on the rookie deal that he signed after Pittsburgh took him 55th overall in the 2021 NFL draft.

Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith loves him some tight ends, and that could result in Freiermuth having the best season since 2022 when he put up 732 yards and two scores. In 2021, his yardage was lower at 432, but he found paydirt seven times with Ben Roethlisberger at the helm.

“Based on football in shorts, the Steelers might give Pat Freiermuth a contract extension tomorrow,” Mark Kaboly, Steelers insider for The Athletic, wrote on June 7. “It has been well documented how Smith likes to use tight ends in his offense, and that was evident at OTAs.”

Though it’s just offseason workouts, Kaboly noted Freiermuth’s increased usage. “Freiermuth was not only targeted often, but he looked like a legitimate playmaker in this offense.”

It remains to be seen whether that indicates Freiermuth will be sticking around Pittsburgh while, but it could be on the horizon.

“Me and my agent are going to keep it close to the vest about that,” he told Kaboly.

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Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth makes career intentions known

As most players in the Black and Gold do, Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth wants to remain with the team for the long haul.

As most players in the Black and Gold do, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth wants to remain with the team for the long haul.

“I want to be in Pittsburgh for the rest of my career,” Freiermuth said on the Wednesday episode of the 412 Podcast.

“Hopefully, it shakes out that way. I want to continue to play for Pittsburgh because it reminds me of where I’m from and how I was raised. Growing up and going through the hard times and good times together. I feel like the Pittsburgh media and fanbase and everyone kind of does that together. I feel very at peace and very comfortable in Pittsburgh.”

Of the nine players in the Steelers 2021 draft class, only four remain: Najee Harris, Freiermuth, Dan Moore Jr. and Isaiahh Loudermilk. As a first-round pick, Pittsburgh has until May 2 to decide on Harris’ fifth-year option. The Steelers typically re-up players with one year left on their contracts, so we could see what general manager Omar Khan opts to do with Freiermuth this offseason.

Freiermuth might be best waiting it out, though. Like most players in Pittsburgh’s 2023 offense, he had a down season. He missed five games, managing just 308 yards and two scores after a career 732-yard season in 2022. If Freiermuth can put up numbers closer to 2022, he could be in for a decent payday.

New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith could want to see what he can do in 2024 before the Steelers offer an extension anyway. Looking at what fourth-overall selection Kyle Pitts did under Smith is not comforting. He produced 2,049 yards and six touchdowns in three seasons.

In his first season as offensive coordinator with the Tennesee Titans, Jonnu Smith had a successful 2020 season with 448 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2019, Smith and Corey Davis combined for 1,040 yards and five scores.

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Steelers 2024 offseason roster – Linebacker

Here are all the Steelers linebackers currently on the roster heading into the offseason.

Last season the Pittsburgh Steelers had to deal with a mix of highs and lows from the linebacker position. At outside linebacker, T.J. Watt led the league in sacks but as inside linebacker, injuries rocked the depth chart.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin feels good about Pat Freiermuth return vs. Browns

Kenny Pickett had some real chemistry working with Pat Freiermuth to start the season, and since he’s been sidelined, he hasn’t quite found it with any other receiver. 

Kenny Pickett had some real chemistry working with Pat Freiermuth to start the season, and since he’s been sidelined, Pickett hasn’t quite found it with any other receiver.

It appears Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers could have him back for Sunday’s critical divisional matchup with the Cleveland Browns.

In his press conference today, Mike Tomlin updated Freiermuth’s status, saying that he feels “good” about his tight end being activated from injured reserve this week.

“I feel good about Pat Freiermuth. We’ll watch him go through the week and look at the quality of his work and the amount of it and how he feels and let that be a determining factor but feel good about his potential availability.”

Freiermuth initially injured his hamstring in the team’s ugly Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans. It appeared he was ready to roll for Pittsburgh’s game Oct. 22 Los Angeles Rams, but the Steelers placed him on injured reserve the day before the game after he aggravated the injury in practice.

Having Freiermuth back could be just the boost that Pickett needs. For as little scoring as the Steelers did (and have done in his absence), Freiermuth was a significant part, responsible for two of their four offensive touchdowns.

Hamstring injuries have run rampant in the Steelers locker room. Diontae Johnson returned from IR as Freiermuth went on, and Minkah Fitzpatrick is at risk of missing his third consecutive game.

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Steelers could get Pat Freiermuth back in time for big Browns brawl

If it seems like Pat Freiermuth has been out forever, it’s because he has.

If it seems like Pat Freiermuth has been out forever, it’s because he has — half of the season, in fact. The Pittsburgh Steelers tight end initially injured his hamstring in the team’s ugly Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans.

It appeared he was ready to roll for Pittsburgh’s Oct. 22 Los Angeles Rams game, but his hamstring had other plans. The Steelers placed Freiermuth on injured reserve on Oct. 21 after reaggravating the injury in Oct. 19 practice.

Preparation for the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 19 will mark four weeks sidelined for Freiermuth. Per Alan Saunders of SteelersNow.com, he plans to return to practice next week, the first time he is eligible to be activated from IR. If things go better than last time — “I don’t want to jinx it” — he’ll suit up for the big Browns brawl.

And it could be just the boost that Kenny Pickett needs. For as little scoring as the Steelers did (and have done in his absence), Freiermuth was a significant part — responsible for two of their four offensive touchdowns.

Hamstring injuries have run rampant in the Steelers locker room. Diontae Johnson returned from IR as Freiermuth went on, and today’s game is the second Minkah Fitzpatrick has missed.

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5 things Pat Freiermuth’s injury means for the Pittsburgh Steelers

With Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth Pat Freiermuth comes adjustments that’ll need to be made on the fly.

It was anticipated that the Pittsburgh Steelers would return from their Week 6 bye a fully healthy team (save Cam Heyward), but Pat Freiermuth‘s hamstring had other plans.

The team placed the veteran tight end on injured reserve Saturday. He’ll be sidelined for the next four games and could return for Pittsburgh’s critical road brawl with the Cleveland Browns in Week 11.

The news is huge for the offense, as Freiermuth was responsible for half of the team’s offensive scores.

Here are four things his injury could mean for the Pittsburgh Steelers going forward.

Injury to Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth creates a problem for his upcoming contract

Pat Freiermuth is headed to IR after suffering a hamstring injury.

On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that starting tight end Pat Freiermuth would be headed to IR due to a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the team’s Week Five game against the Baltimore Ravens. This means Freiermuth will miss this week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams and a minimum of the three games after that.

This means the earliest Freiermuth can return is for the Steelers Week 11 road showdown with the Cleveland Browns.

For Freiermuth, this is less than ideal for a guy who will enter into the final year of his rookie contract at the end of the season. The Steelers typically like to extend their top players a year out from allowing them to hit free agency the following season. Pittsburgh could still offer Freiermuth an extension in the offseason despite the problems he’s had this season. Unfortunately, it won’t be for the kind of money he might want.

In 2022, Freiermuth had his best season with 63 receptions for 732 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Had he been able to build off of that this season, there’s no doubt he would have gotten a big raise in an extension. But even before the injury, Freiermuth was off to a rough start.

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Pat Freiermuth ‘ready to roll’ for Week 7 vs. Rams, has high hopes for Steelers

Pat Freiermuth is healthy and feeling optimistic about the offense returning to preseason form.

After a one-game absence, Pat Freiermuth is set to take the field this week as the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Los Angeles Rams, and he’s optimistic he’s not the only return. He feels the team can recapture the preseason magic when the offense was firing on all cylinders.

“It’s going to be awesome to get all of our people back,” Freiermuth said (via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo). “Hopefully, we can get back to the form we were in camp. We’re all looking forward to it. It was a good little reset, and we’re ready to roll.”

It was initially reported that the third-year tight end would miss two to three weeks, but after practicing on Monday, he’s excited to get back out there. The offense missed him, as he was responsible for half of Pittsburgh’s four touchdowns at the time of his injury.

Freiermuth said he likely would’ve suited up if the Steelers had played in Week 6, but having that extra week was comforting.

“It was awesome to get the extra week and not having to worry about rushing back for a game,” he said. “I probably would have been able to play if we did play, but having that extra week — you know how hamstrings are — I was able to get to 100 percent.”

If all goes well with this week’s practice, the Steelers will get multiple members of their offense back, including wideout Diontae Johnson and guard James Daniels. Tackle Dan Moore Jr. (MCL sprain) also returned to practice with the starters.

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