Jersey numbers were revealed for the new signings the Pittsburgh Steelers made this offseason, with the team dropping a tweet for the numbers being worn by its offseason additions. They are as follows:
QB Mason Rudolph – No. 2
RB Kenneth Gainwell – No. 21
S Juan Thornhill – No. 22,
CB Darius Slay – No. 23
CB Brandin Echols – No. 26
LB Malik Harrison – No. 50
OG Lecitus Smith – No. 61
DL Esezi Otomewo – No. 72
TE Donald Parham Jr. – No. 89
DL Daniel Ekuale – No. 96
Rudolph will wear the No. 2 he sported during his first tenure in Pittsburgh from 2018-2023. The number was worn by Justin Fields last season, but Fields left this offseason to sign with the New York Jets, leaving the number open for Rudolph. No. 21 is a new number for Gainwell, who wore No. 14 during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles. With George Pickens wearing No. 14 for the Steelers, Gainwell will now wear No. 21, which was last assigned to C.J. Henderson. The last offensive player to wear No. 21 in Pittsburgh was RB Mewelde Moore, who wore it from 2008-2011.
Thornhill teased on Instagram earlier this offseason that he would wear No. 22, which was last worn by Najee Harris and by DBs like William Gay and Steven Nelson before him.
Slay wore No. 23 with the Detroit Lions from 2014-2019 before switching to No. 24 and later No. 2 with the Philadelphia Eagles. The last Steelers player to wear No. 23 was Damontae Kazee from 2022-2024. Kazee remains a free agent. Echols’ 26 is the same number he wore from 2021-2024 with the Jets after initially wearing No. 25. Donte Jackson sported the No. 26 last season.
Harrison’s 50 is the same number he had in Baltimore, and it was last worn by Elandon Roberts, who signed with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. It’s commonly been a linebacker number in Pittsburgh, most notably worn by Larry Foote and Ryan Shazier.
Smith’s 61 was most notably worn by C Mason Cole recently, and it’s traditionally been a number the Steelers give to offensive linemen. Otomewo’s 72 was Zach Banner’s number most notably, but interestingly, he’ll be the first defensive player to wear it since Dick Klein, who played offensive tackle and defensive tackle in 1961 for the Steelers.
Parham has worn 89 his entire career, which until now has been spent mostly with the Los Angeles Chargers, while Ekuale last wore No. 96 in 2019 with the Cleveland Browns. Isaiah Buggs was the last Steelers player to wear the number in a regular season game.
With the 2025 NFL Draft later this week, a new crop of Steelers will get their jersey numbers as they begin their NFL journey. Jersey numbers usually have some sort of meaning for players, and for fans, with the numbers now revealed, they can do some preseason shopping to buy the jerseys of Pittsburgh’s newest players.
