The Steelers’ four-year, $10.5 million-per-year deal for Darnell Washington is looking better by the day.
Pittsburgh has spent this year locking up a wave of young players, and that has sparked some grumbling from fans who think the team is paying up for players who sit closer to backup territory than true headliners. Washington was one of the names in that conversation. He’s a massive blocker with rare athletic ability, and the Steelers made him the highest-paid blocking tight end in the league while also giving themselves two well-paid tight ends.
That contract raised eyebrows because Pittsburgh’s new system leans less on multi-tight end packages, which made some wonder if the team was paying for what Washington has already done instead of what he’ll do next.
Then the Raiders handed out their own deal to Michael Mayer, and suddenly Pittsburgh’s move looks a whole lot sharper.
Mayer is a different kind of tight end. He doesn’t bring Washington’s blocking ability, but he is the better receiver of the two.
Even so, he isn’t some explosive mismatch weapon; most of his production comes as a possession target. Las Vegas just gave him a contract worth $15 million per year, even though it runs for fewer years than Washington’s deal.
That’s a hefty price for a player who, in Brock Bowers’ offense, looks more like an emergency answer than a centerpiece.
Mayer is coming off a career year, but that jump was tied to Bowers missing time with injuries last season. Even with the extra chances, Mayer still turned in a worse year than Washington did.
The Raiders are in a similar financial spot to the Steelers in one important way: they have their franchise quarterback, hopefully, on a rookie deal, which gives them room to spend elsewhere. But that doesn’t make this price tag feel any cleaner.
Washington, by contrast, has a defined job in Pittsburgh even when the starter is healthy. Mayer doesn’t have that same clarity in Las Vegas when Bowers is available. So what looked like a solid Steelers contract when it was signed now looks even smarter after the Mayer news.
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