Pat Freiermuth has to be salivating over the prospects of playing for Arthur Smith. The fourth-year tight end is in a contract year with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he finally has an offensive coordinator who knows how to use tight ends. Arguably the biggest question is how much the Steelers are willing to pay him based on training camp indications.
You see, Freiermuth is in a contract year and basically said he is in negotiations for an extension. He is coming off a down year, though, and surely doesn’t want a contract that reflects that. He wants the Steelers to pay him for what he will bring during the new deal, not what he did before. And he thinks there is more to come from him under Smith.
After running a particular sideline route during Thursday’s training camp practice, a reporter asked Freiermuth how often he ran that route in his career. “Not a whole lot”, he admitted, via the team’s website, “but I’m looking forward to doing some new things this year”.
A 2021 second-round draft pick, Pat Freiermuth caught 123 passes for 1,229 yards and 9 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Steelers. Missing five games due to injury last season, he caught just 32 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns.
On top of that, Freiermuth often struggled to gain targets, seeing five or more just three times all season. As many point out, he had a career-high nine catches for 120 yards in the first game after the Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
While it isn’t simply geared to the passing game, new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has a long history of exploiting his tight ends in his scheme. A former offensive lineman, he believes in building through the trenches and regularly uses 12 and 13 personnel. Thursday’s practice already reflected that, with Freiermuth joined frequently by his fellow tight ends.
Another factor that could inflate Freiermuth’s receiving production this year is the dynamics at wide receiver. The Steelers traded starter Diontae Johnson this offseason without appropriately replacing him. Third-round rookie Roman Wilson is the best candidate to step up in the long term, but he may take time to develop, so the offense will need a guy from another position group to eat up some of those missing targets.
Of course, there’s also the change at quarterback from Kenny Pickett to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson sat out the first day’s practice, but Fields targeted Freiermuth frequently, as did the other quarterbacks. It’s all part of the process for him in anticipation of a career year.
“Just doing different things, getting used to it, getting on the same page with the quarterbacks”, Freiermuth said about this offseason process as he looks on to a new contract. “It feels great, and I’m looking forward to this year”.
