Pittsburgh Steelers fans were thrilled to see the team lock up Darnell Washington on a long-term contract extension this offseason. Washington is coming off a career season and was entering a contract year in 2026. Just weeks after the extension, the NFL media is taking notice of the Steelers' tight end room.
On Monday, Jacob Infante of Pro Football Network ranked the best tight end rooms in the NFL heading into the 2026 season. Infante had Pittsburgh's group ranked fifth.
The Steelers' top-five ranking comes just behind the Bears, Rams, Bills, and Chargers. Chicago topped the list, as they added third-round pick and Stanford product Sam Roush to an already threatening group that included Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet.
In some ways the Steelers' tight end room is similar to this unit... and there's still lots of room to grow.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could climb even higher in tight end rankings during the 2026 season
Let's face it, the Steelers don't have a 'Colston Loveland'. While Freiermuth is their starting 'F' tight end, he doesn't have the explosive juice and remarkable separation ability Loveland possesses. At the same time, Washington might already be a better 'Y' tight end than Kmet, and there's still room to grow.
In other words, the Steelers don't have a true 'Tier 1' tight end right now, but they have a pair of 'Tier 2' tight ends on the roster.
There are a handful of NFL teams that have a better TE1 than the Steelers have in either Freiermuth or Washington, but it's the combination of the two that makes this unit so strong. As far as tight end pairings go, Pittsburgh has one of the best in the league—and it's no doubt why they landed in the top-five of PFN's rankings.
This is now reflected in their respective salaries. Freiermuth and Washington are two of the top twelve highest-paid tight ends in the NFL, per Over the Cap. They will work in tandem in Mike McCarthy's new-look offense, and they've already proven to be a great complement to each other.
What Freiermuth lacks as an inline blocker, Washington makes up for with sheer size and power. And what Washington lacks in the receiving game, Freiermuth makes up for with savvy route running and the ability to set up defenders and manipulate coverages.
Under a new offensive scheme—and one that has been friendly to the tight end position in the past—Freiermuth and Washington could have career seasons. However, the question will be: how much is McCarthy willing to play both players at the same time and deploy heavy 12- and 13-personnel looks?
It's hard to predict that either Freiermuth or Washington will take the football world by storm with impressive statistical seasons in the receiving department, but their impact on the field won't go unnoticed. This is one of the strongest tight end pairings in the league, and the NFL media is quickly catching up.
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