Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2026 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with two players each day between June 13 and July 28. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.
WR A.T. PERRY
Experience/age: second season, 26
Contract status: $1.075 million cap hit in 2026, signed one-year contract
The past: Perry joined the Saints’ lineup as a rookie, catching 12 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns in 2023. He played 10 games and started three, but the former sixth-round pick didn’t carry that momentum into Year 2. After sitting inactive in 2024 for the first four games, the Saints released him. He spent the past season and a half on the Broncos’ practice squad. An ankle injury hampered him last summer, limiting him to one preseason game. He had no receptions for the Broncos and was targeted once in the game.
Prior to the NFL, Perry was a record-setting receiver at Wake Forest. He earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2022 and ’21 as the only receiver in school history with two 1,000-yard seasons. His 28 career touchdown receptions were also a school record and ranked seventh all-time in the conference. He also owned the team’s single-season record with 15 TDs in 2021. He finished his Demon Deacons career with 171 catches for 2,662 yards in 43 games over four seasons.
Perry ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds at the NFL Combine in 2023, showed a 35-inch vertical lead and measured 11 feet, 1 inch in the broad jump.
THE ROOKIE A.T. PERRY ON THE DOT FROM JAMEIS.
????: #NOvsMIN on FOX
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— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2023
2026 outlook: The Steelers seem keen on assembling the tallest group of pass catchers in the league. If so, that’s good news for Perry. At 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, he is the tallest of the 11 wide receivers on the team’s preseason roster, listed as an inch taller than both DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. That’s not counting tight ends Darnell Washington (6-7) and Pat Freiermuth (6-5), of course.
Perry signed in January as a free agent, giving him a fresh start with a first-year coaching staff. At the time, the Steelers’ roster was thin at receiver, but his path to the 53-man roster has probably gotten more difficult. The team bolstered the depth chart in the months since by trading for Pittman and using a second-round pick on Alabama receiver Germie Bernard.