PITTSBURGH --Aaron Rodgers looked over at Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington and realized how unique of a frame he had at tight end.
Rodgers saw Washington and immediately compared him to an old teammate of his -- Marcedes Lewis.
“I told Darnell [Washington] today I haven’t had a tight end like him since Marcedes [Lewis],” Rodgers said. “And Marcedes, all-time great. Darnell is like a young Marcedes, able to do things in the passing game and dominate the line of scrimmage.”
Washington is somehow bigger than Lewis, who was 6-foot-6, 270 pounds. At the NFL Combine, he weighed 264 pounds, but Washington’s playing weight is considerably higher than that.
Lewis and Rodgers played together with the Green Bay Packers. After spending 12 seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Lewis signed with the Packers in 2018 and stayed with the team through the 2022 season before heading to the Chicago Bears.
He was a Pro Bowler in 2010 and has played in the NFL since 2006 when he was a first-round pick out of UCLA. Now 41, Lewis still hopes to play another season, with this one potentially coming with Rodgers in Pittsburgh.
“It’s always been something A-Rod would bring up, even when we were in Green Bay. He was like, ‘Hey, we got to retire together,’” Lewis said last week.
Meanwhile, Washington says he has shed 10-15 pounds in preparation for his third NFL season. Washington wouldn’t say his true weight now, but said this is the best he has felt since his days at Georgia.
At one point last year, Steelers tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts erroneously stated that Washington weighed 300-plus pounds.
The Steelers are hoping for a year-three ascent from Washington into another tier after a promising second year that saw him progress in his consistency.