The Result Carries Weight
Darnell Washington turned a breakthrough 2025 season into a long-term home in Pittsburgh. The Steelers signed the 6-foot-7 tight end to a four-year, $42 million extension worth $21 million guaranteed, per ESPN reports.
Washington, a 2023 third-round pick, was entering the final year of his rookie contract. He set career highs with 31 receptions for 364 yards last season while developing a reliable connection with Aaron Rodgers before suffering a Week 17 injury in Pittsburgh's loss to the Browns.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
The Moment That Swung It
The deal comes one day after outside linebacker Nick Herbig finalized his own four-year, $100 million extension with $42 million guaranteed.
What changed? Washington spent portions of 2025 lighter than his listed 264 pounds—he told reporters he played at 311—while showing off receiving routes that scouts rarely saw from him in college at Georgia. He also delivered one of the most violent highlights of the season in Pittsburgh's Week 11 win over the Bengals, flattening multiple defenders on a single catch.
The Race Tightens
"He's faster than people probably think because he's so tremendously large, and he's also shifty," Rodgers said during the season. "To be that skilled in the passing game is pretty impressive."
The contract effectively ends any talk of Washington switching to offensive tackle—a possibility that lingered early in his career. Now the Steelers lock in their mismatch tight end for the prime years of his development.