The Steelers suddenly lack depth at tight end after having too much, so what is the best way to address it going forward? Earlier in the offseason, Pittsburgh released Jonnu Smith, for whom they traded a year ago. Just this past week, free agent Connor Heyward chose to sign with the Raiders after four years here.
While that leaves them with a strong one-two punch in Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, the Steelers need more tight ends. Or more accurately, they need more viable, rosterable tight ends of whom they can be sure. Right now, the only other true tight end on the Steelers’ roster is JJ Galbreath. A college free agent a year ago, many hoped he would be a sleeper to make the team. He didn’t, but he’s still around, and now there’s a lot more room. But they can’t leave the room in the current state it’s in, either.
“I don’t know that they have to add a veteran before the draft”, veteran Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo said on the North Shore Drive podcast. “Right now, if it’s not addressed, they’re certainly in play for a tight end, say like, anywhere in the Round 3 to Round 4 range. They’ve got five picks in Rounds 3 and 4”.
At long last, we know what the Steelers’ draft picks will be. They do indeed have three picks in the third round, including one from the George Pickens trade. The Steelers also earned third- and fourth-round compensatory picks from last year’s free agent losses. All told, that leaves them with five selections between 76th overall and 135. Can the Steelers find their next tight end in that range of the draft?
“It’s a pretty good spot to get yourself a No. 3 tight end and a guy who has potential to move up and be a backup next season:, Fittipaldo argued. And he said that the Steelers need to “safeguard” themselves at tight end in the draft in the event they can’t extend Darnell Washington. That makes the heart of the draft a “perfect” time for the Steelers to draft another tight end. And it’s been a while.
Connor Heyward is the last tight end the Steelers have drafted, other than Darnell Washington in 2023. And he was never a true, traditional tight end. In fact, the Raiders apparently intend to use him as a fullback, so there you go. Either way, that was in the sixth round in 2022. Of course, they drafted a tight end three years in a row prior to the past two years.
The Steelers gave up a fifth-round draft pick to add an arguably redundant tight end last year in Jonnu Smith. He came here as part of the trade that sent Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Dolphins for Jalen Ramsey. And there’s a reason he’s now gone, arguably an addition by subtraction.
But tight ends are more prone to injury, and thus missing games, than most positions. Arthur Smith isn’t here anymore, but the Steelers certainly need to insulate themselves. That doesn’t mean they can’t accomplish that in free agency, but the draft is a strong option, too. A third tight end likely wouldn’t play much this year if Freiermuth and Washington remained healthy, anyway.
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