The Pittsburgh Steelers made a statement when they extended Darnell "Mount" Washington to a four-year, $42 million deal; multiple tight ends are going to see the field yet again in 2026. Even with Arthur Smith now roaming the sidelines in Columbus, Ohio, as Ohio State's offensive coordinator, head coach Mike McCarthy proved that he has a plan to involve both Washington and Pat Freiermuth in his offense.
What about the depth behind them, though? Beyond rookie tight end/fullback Riley Nowakowski, it's just a smattering of underafted free agent types and failed draft picks from other teams. Or, at least, that was the case.
The Steelers brought in former Packers, Bears, Vikings (oh my!), and Chiefs tight end Robert Tonyan for a workout recently, and they officially signed him Thursday to a one-year contract. Tonyan is mostly known for his explosive 2020 season in Green Bay, where he helped quarterback Aaron Rodgers win an MVP trophy by catching 11 touchdowns on just 52 receptions.
While he hasn't been able to replicate those numbers since (and has just one reception for one yard since 2024), perhaps reuniting with his old QB in Pittsburgh is what he needs to get back on track.
Pittsburgh Steelers bringing in Robert Tonyan as a trusted veteran for Aaron Rodgers makes perfect sense
With the lack of depth behind the top options at tight end, it makes sense that Pittsburgh would bring in a veteran to back up Washington and Freiermuth. Tonyan may not have produced much of anything over the past couple of years, but he has a history with Rodgers (which we all know is huge for him) and can potentially offer more receiving ability than the other names in the room beyond Muth.
At 32 years old, however, it's hard to gauge just how much Tonyan has left in the tank. As great as his 2020 season was (with an admittedly much better version of Rodgers throwing him the ball), that was his only notable year of high-end production.
Outside of that one season, Tonyan has just 964 career receiving yards and six touchdowns. Even most of those totals came in his only other season with more than 204 yards, when he put up 470 yards in 2022.
The bottom line is that Tonyan will likely never approach the heights he once reached, but his experience with Rodgers and his veteran status could make him a valuable addition to the Steelers in 2026. Hopefully, we even see a few glimpses of the version of him that shocked the world six years ago along the way.
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