Steelers Sign Round 2 TE Pat Freiermuth
The Steelers are nearly done signing their 2021 draft picks. Shortly after they agreed to terms with first-rounder Najee Harris, the Steelers announced second-round selection Pat Freiermuth signed his rookie deal.
Freiermuth played three seasons at Penn State and declared for the draft after his junior year. Staying in Pennsylvania to start his pro career, Freiermuth profiles as Pittsburgh’s long-term tight end hopeful. Eric Ebron remains on the Steelers’ roster, but he is under contract through the end of the 2021 season only. Feiermuth is set to earn $6MM over four years, with a $1.74MM signing bonus.
Penn State used Freiermuth frequently in the red zone; the 6-foot-5 tight end totaled 15 touchdown receptions between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Freiermuth topped out at 507 receiving yards as a sophomore but still managed north of 300 in a four-game 2020 slate. He suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery last November. Even playing just three seasons, one of which abbreviated by injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, Freiermuth totaled 16 career touchdown catches — a Penn State tight end record.
Despite glaring offensive line needs, the Steelers went with Freiermuth with the No. 55 overall pick. That certainly reveals confidence he could become their sought-after Heath Miller replacement as a long-term option at the position. Of the Steelers’ draftees, only third-rounder Kendrick Green is unsigned.
Steelers Sign First-Round Pick Najee Harris
The Steelers have their guy. Pittsburgh has officially signed first-round pick running back Najee Harris to his rookie contract, the team announced Tuesday.
It’ll be a four-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $13.1MM for the 24th overall pick. Harris will collect a signing bonus of $6.85MM. Harris to the Steelers was one of the most buzzed about connections leading up to the draft, and the rumors turned out to be accurate. He was the first running back off the board, taken one pick before Clemson’s Travis Etienne.
Pittsburgh was widely expected to draft a runner early, as they’ve emphasized the need for a revamped ground game after they got nothing from their rushing attack in 2020. They let James Conner walk in free agency, and opted for the former Alabama star to replace him.
Harris will slot in as the team’s immediate starter, and the Steelers are reportedly planning on having him play a big role as a pass-catcher. The California native rushed for a ridiculous 26 touchdowns last season, and averaged at least 5.8 yards per carry in all four of his college seasons.
He’ll now be lining up behind and next to Ben Roethlisberger, at least for one season. Harris has the talent to be a top back in the league, the question now is how the Steelers’ new-look offensive line will perform.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/18/21
A roundup of today’s mid-round draft pick signings:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DE/LB Jordan Smith (fourth round; UAB)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Chris Rumph II (fourth round; Duke)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- LB Buddy Johnson (fourth round; Texas A&M); OL Dan Moore Jr. (fourth round; Texas A&M)
Steelers Unlikely To Add At Left Tackle
- Continuing recent tradition, the Raiders surprised draft viewers with their first-round pick. The Jon Gruden–Mike Mayock regime chose Alex Leatherwood 17th overall. The Alabama tackle was viewed by most as a major reach; Scouts Inc. rated him as this draft’s 60th-best prospect. The Raiders may have been leery of two teams eyeing Leatherwood in the back half of Round 1, however. The Steelers and Vikings had Leatherwood on their respective radars, per Fowler. The Vikings drafted Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw (Scouts Inc.’s No. 20 overall prospect) at No. 23. Pittsburgh preferred him to most of the draft’s second-tier tackles, but the team appeared locked in on ex-Leatherwood teammate Najee Harris at No. 24. Leatherwood is expected to work as a right tackle in Las Vegas.
- Although the Steelers’ depth chart has the look of one that would benefit from a veteran tackle addition, they do not appear to be eyeing one in the post-draft period of free agency. Despite Alejandro Villanueva defecting to the Ravens and the Steelers not drafting a tackle before Round 4, the team likes its left tackle setup, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Pittsburgh lost three O-line starters — Villanueva, Maurkice Pouncey and Matt Feiler — this offseason and is planning to move right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor to the left side. Pro Football Focus viewed Okorafor as one of the league’s worst tackles in 2020, grading him 70th at the position. Okorafor spent the 2018 and ’19 seasons as a backup, moving into the Steelers’ starting lineup after Zach Banner‘s Week 1 ACL tear. Banner has re-signed and is expected to compete for the right tackle job.
Eagles Sign Ryan Kerrigan
Ryan Kerrigan is staying in the NFC East. On Monday morning, Kerrigan bid farewell to the Washington Football Team. And, minutes later, we learned that he’s agreed to join up with the Eagles (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Eagles have since confirmed the signing as a one-year deal. 
“I’ll never be able to sum up what these past ten years have meant to me in an Instagram post, but what I can say is that they have been some of the best of my life,” Kerrigan wrote (Instagram link). “I hope you had as much fun watching me as I did playing for you. Thank you, Washington, for everything.”
Up until now, the former first-round pick had spent his entire career in D.C. Along the way, he collected four Pro Bowl nominations and 95.5 sacks to top Dexter Manley for the franchise record. Kerrigan started every game for his first nine seasons with the club. But, last year, he was mostly relegated to a reserve role and notched just 5.5 sacks for Ron Rivera. As a result, it was widely expected that he would move on.
Now, the 32-year-old (33 in August) will suit up for his longtime rival. The Steelers and Bengals (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) also showed interest, but he felt that the Eagles would be his best fit. Currently, he profiles as the Birds’ No. 4 DE, likely behind Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Josh Sweat.
With Kerrigan off the board, other edge-needy teams can still consider the likes of Melvin Ingram, Justin Houston, Everson Griffen, Olivier Vernon, Ezekiel Ansah, Dion Jordan, and Adrian Clayborn.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/15/21
Here are the latest rookies to agree to terms on their four-year contracts. The Steelers were busy on this front Saturday.
Houston Texans
- LB Garret Wallow (fifth round; TCU)
Los Angeles Chargers
- RB Larry Rountree (sixth round; Missouri)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- DT Isaiahh Loudermilk (fifth round; Wisconsin), LB Quincy Roche (sixth round; Miami), CB Tre Norwood (seventh round; Oklahoma), P Pressley Harvin III (seventh round; Georgia Tech)
Steelers CB Justin Layne Pleads Guilty To Three Misdemeanors
May 11: In an effort to resolve his legal situation as expeditiously as possible, Layne recently pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges — possession of criminal tools, speeding, and driving without an operator’s license — as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk details. He received a six-month suspended sentence, but he will not serve any of that sentence if he pays a $500 fine, forfeits a handgun, and performs 32 hours of community service.
Theoretically, Layne could still be suspended by the league, but getting rid of the felony charge that he was facing can’t hurt. With the offseason departures of Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton, Layne stands to get an uptick in playing time in 2021.
Apr. 24: Steelers cornerback Justin Layne has found himself in hot water. The 23-year-old was arrested early Friday morning “on suspicion of felony transportation of a firearm inside of a vehicle,” per ESPN’s Ben Baby.
Layne was also charged with a pair of misdemeanors: “driving with a suspended license and exceeding speed limits.” According to police, the player was pulled over after he was observed going 89 miles per hour in a 60 mph zone. Police searched the car after smelling marijuana, and they proceeded to find a loaded pistol (via NFL.com). The player didn’t have the proper license for a conceal-carry permit. Layne later acknowledged the gun was his.
Police also learned that Layne “had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a traffic violation in another jurisdiction.” Following his arrest, he was granted release on a personal bond, with his next court appearance coming in early May.
“We are aware of the incident but still gathering information,” the Steelers said in a statement. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
Following a standout career at Michigan State, Layne was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2019 draft. After barely playing during his rookie season (despite officially appearing in 10 games), he saw more time on the field in 2020. He finished this year having appeared in all 16 games, collecting 22 tackles.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/11/21
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: K Matt McCrane
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: LB Anthony Butler
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: WR Caleb Scott
Los Angeles Rams
- Claimed (from Titans): LS Matthew Orzech
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DB Trill Williams
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Calvin Bundage
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: CB Quenton Meeks
Contract Notes: Bucs, Rodgers, Rudolph, Pats
We’ve got a handful of interesting notes on contracts to pass along, including for several quarterbacks:
- The Buccaneers’ quarterbacks room is a bit crowded now with Kyle Trask getting drafted in the second-round. One of Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin will be the odd man out, since Bruce Arians won’t be keeping four signal-callers. “Their new contracts tell you who’s ahead” in the competition to hold Tom Brady‘s clipboard in 2021, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Auman reports that Gabbert got $1.5MM in guaranteed money, $750K in base salary and a $750K signing bonus. On the other hand, Griffin only got a $75K signing bonus guaranteed. Gabbert has always been Bruce Arians’ guy, while Tampa’s front office has loved Griffin enough to keep him around since 2015. If these financial figures tell us anything, and they usually do, it’s that Gabbert will be back for the title defense while Griffin won’t be.
- The language of Aaron Rodgers‘ contract is going to get a lot of attention if his current beef with the Packers turns into a real holdout. Rodgers earned a $6.8MM roster bonus on the third day of the league year, but he hasn’t actually received that money yet since it’s to be “paid concurrently with his 2021 base salary,” former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry tweets. Corry notes that Green Bay has “the right to take fines & any recapture of signing bonus due to a training camp holdout from this money.” There was talk of Rodgers having to pay back that $6.8MM, but it turns out he hasn’t even gotten it yet. The Packers can start chipping away at that the moment he doesn’t show up for mandatory practices.
- One last quarterback note. Mason Rudolph recently got a one-year contract extension from the Steelers to keep him under team control through 2022, and it turns out the team gave him some real money. Rudolph’s new pact with Pittsburgh is worth $5MM for the 2022 season, which included a $2MM signing bonus, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. As Kaboly points out, Rudolph is the only passer the team has under contract for 2022. Rudolph hasn’t exactly looked like a franchise quarterback in his nine career starts, but with Ben Roethlisberger‘s status more than uncertain beyond this year, it makes since why the Steelers would want to make sure they have someone at least somewhat competent under center just in case.
- When Trent Brown got traded from the Raiders back to the Patriots, he reworked his contract from having two years and $29.5MM left to a one-year pact for $11MM. Turns out that new one-year deal has some interesting details. The massive offensive tackle’s contract has a series of weight-based incentives, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes. The 6’8 behemoth will have earned $150K if he weighed “385 pounds or less on the first day of the offseason program (April 19).” Brown will have an opportunity to earn another $150K if he clocks in at or below 375 pounds on June 1, and another $200K for 365 pounds on July 15. That’s a total of a half million bucks in weight-based incentives. Brown was with the Patriots for one season back in 2018, and won Super Bowl LIII with the team.
Steelers Make Trio Of Moves In Secondary
The Steelers made a trio of moves in their secondary as we head into the weekend. Pittsburgh signed safety Arthur Maulet while cutting cornerback Trevor Williams and safety John Battle, they announced Friday.
It’s a one-year deal with Maulet, who was with the Jets the past two seasons. Originally an UDFA with the Saints back in 2017, Maulet started a game for the Colts in 2018, but really found his footing in the league with New York in 2019. He appeared in 23 games and started 11 for the Jets over the past two years. In 11 games and five starts in 2020, he had 29 tackles, a sack, five passes defended, and an interception. He entered the league a little older than most so the Memphis product will turn 28 in July.
Williams looked like a potential very solid starter early in his career with the Chargers, but a knee injury derailed his career. Williams started 15 games for the Chargers in 2017 and seven in 2018 before the knee issue landed him on IR. He had been a part of a strong Chargers secondary, but was cut in 2019 after landing on injured reserve again.
Teams keep taking flyers on him since, as he’s had short stints with the Cardinals, Eagles and Jaguars recently, but they keep cutting him too. He’s still only 27, and will likely get another shot soon since teams seem to believe in his potential.
Battle is a 2019 UDFA from LSU who was on the Steelers’ practice squad last year.