PatFreiermuth

News: 2 days agoFreiermuth played 10 snaps on offense but did not show up in the box score otherwise during the Steelers' 17-0 preseason loss to the Jets on Friday.

Spin: Freiermuth and Darnell Washington saw limited action in Friday's exhibition contest, with the former not seeing a target from Will Howard. Freiermuth is entering his sixth NFL season off the heels of a disappointing 2025 campaign, when he caught 41 passes (on 54 targets) for 486 yards and four touchdowns across 17 regular-season games, with his receptions and targets both being career lows. Freiermuth and Washington will provide quarterback Aaron Rodgers with big targets in the passing game, with both tight ends working in complement with wide receivers DK Metcalf (undisclosed) and Michael Pittman (hamstring).

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Freiermuth's career trajectory has been quite the head-scratcher, but the bottom line is he is yet to emerge as a consistent fantasy starter. The 2021 second-round pick flirted with TE1 status in both 2022 (11th in fantasy PPG) and 2024 (14th) but saw a dramatic dip in usage in Pittsburgh's crowded tight end room in 2025. Freiermuth posted a career-low 10% target share and finished outside the top 20 at the position in snaps, routes, targets, catches, yards and end zone targets, and 30 tight ends bested his 6.7 fantasy PPG. The 27-year-old figures to play more in 2026 with Jonnu Smith gone and Mike McCarthy running the offense, but Pittsburgh is also better at wide receiver with Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard in the fold. Freiermuth has some sleeper appeal, but he's best valued as a back-end TE2.