After months of speculation, former Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth has signed an extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Freiermuth has been with the Steelers since the 2021 season, being selected in the second round after a successful three-year run at Penn State.
He ended his three-year college career with the most receiving touchdowns in school history with 16, surpassing Mike Gesicki (2015-16) who ended his Penn State career with 15 playing for coach James Franklin.
The Steelers and Pat Freiermuth have agreed to a four-year, $48.4 million contract extension, sources told Steelers Now.
Freiermuth had been set to enter the final year of his rookie contract. The extension will add four years of new money. The contract includes an $11.8 million signing bonus.
The average annual value of the new money on the contract is $12.1 million, which will make Freiermuth the 9th-highest paid tight end in the NFL, slotting between Dalton Shultz of the Houston Texans ($12 million per season) and Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears ($12.4 million per season).
The new contract will increase his 2024 salary cap hit, but that number cannot be specifically calculated without the yearly breakdown of his salary. The Steelers used some of the cap space they created by extended defensive tackle Cam Heyward earlier in the week to sign Freiermuth.
A second-round pick out of Penn State in 2021, Freiermuth has been the Steelers’ primary starting tight end since his rookie season. He has 1,537 yards over his three seasons and 11 touchdowns. His best statistical season came in 2022, when he caught 63 passes for 732 yards and two touchdowns.
With the Steelers making the change to Arthur Smith as the team’s offensive coordinator, Pat Freiermuth is expected to play an even larger part of the offense moving forward. Smith’s Atlanta Falcons team in 2023 threw to tight ends 175 times, the third-most in the NFL.
