Steelers Mine Freiermuth Deal for Cap Relief—What It Means for Pittsburgh's Passing Game

The Steelers restructured Pat Freiermuth's contract this offseason, pulling forward cap relief by converting salary to signing bonus—a common move when a team needs immediate space but wants to retain a player. Freiermuth, who signed a four-year, $48.4MM extension before the 2024 season, remains the veteran anchor at tight end after the team released Jonnu Smith and watched Connor Heyward depart to the Raiders. Mike McCarthy's first Steelers roster is deeper at the position than the headline suggests: Darnell Washington returns as a receiving threat, and the team drafted Riley Nowakowski in the fifth round to add developmental depth.

The restructure itself doesn't mean Freiermuth is in trouble—it's a financial maneuver to stay under the cap in a tight year. But it does reveal something about how the Steelers are prioritizing their offensive arsenal. With limited cap space after the restructure, Pittsburgh is unlikely to add premium receiving talent elsewhere. That concentrates target volume into the existing group: Russell Wilson or whoever wins the QB1 job will be working with Freiermuth, Washington, and whatever receivers are on the roster. Freiermuth is 26 years old and produced 63 receptions, 693 yards, and 4 TDs in 2024—solid, if not explosive.

What matters for prop bettors is the target-allocation math. Freiermuth's receiving role is unlikely to expand dramatically, but it shouldn't contract either. He'll remain the primary tight end in most packages, which means his catch total and yardage floor are stable. Washington will siphon some red-zone touches, but Freiermuth's 2024 TD rate (4 in 16 games) was suppressed; he averaged 12.0 yards per reception, which is efficient for a tight end his size. If Wilson or the new QB pushes the ball downfield more than the Steelers did last season, Freiermuth's per-target value rises.

For betting purposes, the restructure is a tell that Pittsburgh isn't bulking up the passing game elsewhere. That constrains Freiermuth to his current role—a high-floor, moderate-ceiling tight end. His receiving yards line for 2026 should land in the 700-850 range depending on QB stability and game script. The smart angle isn't to bet aggressively on him popping; it's to respect that he'll eat his carries and avoid unders at inflated numbers early in the season when the market overweights the Washington and Nowakowski narrative. If sportsbooks bump Freiermuth's receptions line above 68-70 on the strength of a hot QB debut in camp, the under becomes vulnerable to a regression—not because Freiermuth will underperform, but because that ceiling doesn't exist given the target-share reality.