2024 Steelers Exit Interviews: Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2025.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, and the fact I have done these articles in the past, we thought we would do them yet again here at Steel Curtain Network. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies and those heading into free agency, we will attempt to do the same to some degree. To start, we will pair the most recent draftees with another player at the same position (if possible) as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are tight ends Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth.

Darnell Washington

Position: Tight End
Years with the Steelers: 2
Years in the NFL: 2
Contract Status: Signed through 2026
Contract Details: $1,460,158 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $446,876 in dead money if released and save $1,013,282.
Games played in 2023: 17 regular season
Games started in 2023: 9 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 584 (offense), 85 (special teams)
PFF score: 71.2 (17th of 74)
Notable stats: Washington had 19 receptions on 25 targets for 200 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Notes: Washington saw his number of targets increased by 2.5 from his rookie season and his receiving yards increased by more than three times. Looking at his numbers, this shows how little Washington was used in the passing game his rookie season. Still not a primary target this season, Washington only had one target for one reception for 8 yards in the Steelers four game losing streak to end the regular season. More than seeing more passes his way, I would like to see the Steelers to utilize Washington more as a matchup nightmare, benefiting either him or someone else on the offense, simply by changing his alignment.

Pat Freiermuth

Position: Tight End
Years with the Steelers: 4
Years in the NFL: 4
Contract Status: Signed through 2028
Contract Details: $12,885,000 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $8,400,000 in dead money if released and save $4,485,000.
Games played in 2023: 17 regular season
Games started in 2023: 11 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 776 (offense), 81 (special teams)
PFF score: 67.2 (24th of 74)
Notable stats: Freiermuth had 65 receptions on 78 targets for 653 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns while having 3 fumbles.

Notes: The only Steelers player under contract for the 2028 season at this time, Freiermuth is the only player on the Steelers offense who was drafted by Pittsburgh and is on a second contract. Although I think most Steelers fans would like to see more production out of Freiermuth, the biggest benefit he would see would be having a quarterback who utilizes the middle of the field. One knock on Freiermuth from 2024 is three fumbles, something he had not done since his rookie season. Freiermouth did find the end zone seven times in 2024, tying his mark from his rookie season of 2021 and only one behind the Steelers record for tight end receiving touchdowns in a season of eight held by Heath Miller from 2012.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Troy Fautanu & Broderick Jones
Zach Frazier & Ryan McCollum
Roman Wilson & Van Jefferson
Payton Wilson & Patrick Queen
Mason McCormick & James Daniels
Logan Lee & Isaiahh Loudermilk
Ryan Watts & Damontae Kazee
Joey Porter Jr. & James Pierre
Keeanu Benton & Montravius Adams