Steelers announce Jaylen Warren has signed his one-year restricted free agent tender
The Pittsburgh Steelers are continuing their preparation for the 2025 season ahead of the NFL Draft later this week. Even though he officially counted on the Steelers roster and against the salary cap once the Steelers placed a second round restricted free agent tender, Jaylen Warren has officially signed his one-year contract with the Steelers for 2025.
RB Jaylen Warren has signed a one-year restricted free agent tender. @BordasLaw
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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) April 22, 2025
An undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL draft, Jaylen Warren signed with the Steelers and made the 53-man roster. Appearing in 48 games over three seasons, Warren has 1,674 rushing yards on 346 attempts with six rushing touchdowns as well as 894 receiving yards on 127 receptions from 154 targets.
Playing three seasons with the Steelers, Warren was a restricted free agent. Here is a reminder of what qualifies a player as a restricted free agent:
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. RFAs are free to negotiate and sign with any team, but their original team can offer them one of various qualifying offers (“tenders”) that come with the right of first refusal and/or draft-pick compensation. If the tender is withdrawn by a team, the RFA becomes an unrestricted free agent. In 2025, teams must submit these tenders before 4 p.m. ET on March 12. These amounts change annually.
Had the Steelers offered Warren a right of first refusal tender, his contract would be for $3.263 million. Instead, the Steelers offered the second round tender of $5.346 million. This amount was already accounted for with the Steelers salary cap even before the contract was signed, much like that of a player who receives the franchise tag.
With the compensation of a restricted free agent signings with another team coming in this year’s draft, the deadline for players signing elsewhere was last Friday, April 18. After that point, Warren could only sign with the Steelers, either as his RFA tender or a different contract.
Stay tuned to Steel Curtain Network for continued coverage as the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to add players to their 2025 roster either in free agency or the upcoming NFL Draft.
