When the Pittsburgh Steelers handed Pat Freiermuth a four-year, $48.4 million contract extension during the 2024 offseason, the deal was met with mixed reviews. Freiermuth was coming off a season that included just 32 receptions for 308 yards and two touchdowns while dealing with multiple soft tissue injuries that held him to 12 games.
Fast forward one year, and Freiermuth's questionable extension is already starting to look like a steal.
Over the weekend, the Dallas Cowboys handed tight end Jake Ferguson a four-year, $52 million contract extension.
While we can expect contracts to keep going up as the salary cap continues to rise, Ferguson has a fraction of the production Freiermuth has earned early in his career. It's already looking like the Steelers have the better contract.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are suddenly getting a discount on Pat Freiermuth's contract extension
If the latest tight end contract extensions are measured by production, then the deal the Pittsburgh Steelers gave Pat Freiermuth blows the other tight end contracts out of the water.
Ferguson, for example, has recorded 149 receptions on 210 targets for 1,429 yards and seven touchdowns in his first three NFL seasons. This is just 49 receptions, 476 yards, and 2.3 touchdowns per season.
What's worse is that Ferguson is coming off a down year that included just 494 yards on 86 targets (5.7 yards per target) and zero touchdowns. His 39.5 percent success rate was the worst of his three-year career so far, and Cowboys quarterbacks had a passer rating os just 83.2 when targeting him last season.
Despite his backslide and inefficient performance last season, Ferguson is making $13 million per season in new money average compared to Freiermuth's $12.1 million per year.
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Compare this to Freiermuth, who, in one additional season, has averaged 55 receptions for 730 yards and 4.5 touchdowns per year. However, this is counting his injury-plagued season in 2023. Freiermuth has already had three seasons in his first four years with 60-plus receptions.
Last year, with a combination of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson at the helm, Freiermuth caught 65 passes for 653 yards and seven touchdowns while earning a catch rate of 83.3 percent, averaging 8.4 yards per target, and aiding his quarterbacks to a combined 126.1 passer rating when targeted.
Freiermuth isn't a great blocker, and as a pass-catcher, he doesn't have elite athletic traits to make defenders miss after the catch. Still, the Pittsburgh Steelers tight end has been a solid weapon in the passing game. His production suggests the Steelers are getting a steal compared to the latest big tight end contract in the NFL.