Update (10:02 a.m.): The team announced the signing of Ward. It’s a one-year deal.
We have signed RB Jonathan Ward to a one-year contract. @BordasLaw
📝: https://t.co/D55aDkUi7I pic.twitter.com/Nazlc28TCO
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 21, 2024
The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing RB Jonathan Ward after a successful tryout at the team’s rookie minicamp, per NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
#Steelers are signing veteran running back Jonathan Ward, per a league source @KPRC2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 21, 2024
Ward is a five-year veteran who has spent time with the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans. For his career, he has 17 carries for 69 yards and six receptions for 52 yards. He reportedly impressed at rookie minicamp, and now will join a running back room that includes Jaylen Warren, Najee Harris, Cordarrelle Patterson, Daijun Edwards and Aaron Shampklin.
That puts the Steelers’ roster at 89, but they’ll have two open spots due to the roster exemption for undrafted free agent Julius Welschof as an international exemption. Ward joins Anthony Averett as players who get a contract with Pittsburgh after working out at rookie minicamp as veterans.
A former undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan, Ward has never had more than nine carries in a season, as he toted the rock nine times for 33 yards for the Cardinals in 2021. His only career touchdown came on an 11-yard reception with the Cardinals in 2020, his first career touch in the NFL, and he has six receptions for 52 yards in his career.
Ward’s primary value comes on special teams, with 16 career tackles and 533 career special teams snaps. He has two punt returns in his career but that’s not a role he’s going to fill in Pittsburgh. He likely won’t be a factor in the offense if he sticks on the roster, but the Steelers lost a core special teamer in Miles Boykin this offseason. It’s an important unit for the Steelers to add to, and they’re doing so by giving Ward a shot.
Harris and Warren are the team’s clear-cut top two backs, while Patterson will be on the roster as a kick returner and potentially play a role on offense. It’s conceivable that the Steelers carry four running backs on the 53-man roster, so having Ward compete with Edwards and Shampklin makes a lot of sense, especially given Ward’s history as a reliable special teamer and someone the team liked in rookie minicamp.
It also adds another body as the Steelers look at training camp and OTAs, of which Phase 3 kicks off today, given that they won’t overwork either Harris or Warren, and Harris suffered a training camp injury in 2022. That’s something the team will want to avoid as it looks to become a more run-heavy team, and adding another back to the room who can get some work and compete for a job doing the dirty work on special teams is a good move.
