Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: RB Jaylen Warren
Experience: 3 Years
The Steelers did not see the best of Jaylen Warren in 2025, not that he could much help it. He battled injury throughout the first half of the season, even if he didn’t miss a lot of time. In all, he sat out two games, though the Steelers limited his snaps in others.
All told, Warren finished the season with 120 carries for the Steelers and 38 catches. Although he posted a 50-percent run success rate, he had a career-low 4.3 yards per carry. He rushed for 511 yards and scored just one touchdown, fumbling twice.
Warren did have his most efficient season as a receiver in terms of yards per catch. In call, he caught 38 of 47 passes for 410 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per attempt. But he actually posted his lowest catch percentage and second-lowest success rate.
Of course, the Steelers use Warren on what I call “3rd and Jaylen” plays, virtually impossible down-and-distance situations. They cross their fingers and hope for the best, and every once in a while, he actually converts. While that helps his yards per carry, it doesn’t exactly boost his first-down totals. He recorded his lowest first-down percentage of his career.
The biggest difference between the 2023 and 2024 seasons was Jaylen Warren’s lack of explosive plays. In 2023, he benefited from a breakaway 74-yard touchdown, which remains an aberration. Outside of that one play, his longest touch, run or catch, remains 31 yards. And he has six total plays of 25-plus yards, two of which are 26 yards.
The Steelers have a question concerning Jaylen Warren this offseason. He is a restricted free agent, but how do they approach that? As a former college free agent, an original-round tender offers no protection. However, a second-round tender costs about 40 percent more, roughly a $2 million difference.
If the Steelers move on from Najee Harris, a second-round tender for Warren makes more sense. But would a team even bother trying to sign Warren to an offer sheet that the Steelers weren’t willing to match? Teams are generally reluctant to formalize offer sheets because teams typically match them. The last time a team gave a Steelers restricted free agent an offer sheet, they matched it. That was Emmanuel Sanders back in 2013.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
