The Pittsburgh Steelers need a wide receiver, and James Washington is looking to make a comeback. Head coach Mike Tomlin enjoys the occasional reunion, so why not bring the Steelers’ former second-round pick back? What’s the worst that could happen beyond him absorbing some practice reps others could take advantage of?
Then again, what’s the point? That’s where Steelers reporter Bob Labriola stands on the subject in his latest Asked and Answered column. “The only circumstance where I could envision the Steelers being interested in signing James Washington would be in the event of a number of injuries at the position early in training camp”, he wrote. “Washington isn’t dynamic as a route-runner or as a playmaker, and who knows how the injury and year off has impacted his skill-set”.
The Steelers selected James Washington 60th overall in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He played out his rookie contract here but never had a breakout season. Over his four years in Pittsburgh, he caught 114 passes for 1,629 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had his best season in 2019—without Ben Roethlisberger—catching 44 passes for 735 yards and three touchdowns.
By 2021, the end of his contract with the Steelers, Washington was largely an afterthought despite playing 480 snaps. Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool passed him on the depth chart, and then-rookies Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth provided a spark to the passing game at running back and tight end, respectively.
And Washington fell to the back burner that year even though JuJu Smith-Schuster only played in five games. Ray-Ray McCloud roughly produced just as much that season as a receiver in Roethlisberger’s final season.
The Texas native signed in 2022 with the Dallas Cowboys but never caught a pass for them. He only played two games in a Cowboys uniform, drawing one target, but spent much of that time injured.
James Washington was out of the NFL entirely in 2023 after the Colts released him at the end of August. While he may have gotten a workout here and there, he never even latched onto a practice squad. In other words, calling this a “comeback” is self-serving for the player’s agent. All he did was lose a job for a year because nobody wanted him.
Perhaps he was never fully healthy last year after injuring both feet in 2022, even though he did get on the field that year. That is what he needs to sell teams on. Reportedly, he was in the process of lining up some workouts, but I don’t know if he has conducted any. He obviously hasn’t signed with anybody yet.
And as for the Steelers, signing Washington would just add to their collection of similar players. They already have Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins, Marquez Callaway, and Scotty Miller. Pittsburgh may have spent a second-round pick on him, but he didn’t play like one. And I don’t see him helping the team this year, even if signing him to an offseason contract wouldn’t hurt.
