The Pittsburgh Steelers are making moves to bolster their wide receiver room, signing A.T. Perry to a reserve/future contract-an under-the-radar addition that could carry more weight than it seems on the surface.
Perry, a 6-foot-3, 198-pound wideout out of Wake Forest, is heading into his fourth NFL season. Originally a sixth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2023, Perry showed flashes of promise during his rookie campaign.
He appeared in 10 games, starting three, and finished the year with 12 catches for 246 yards and four touchdowns. Not bad for a late-round rookie trying to find his footing in a crowded Saints offense.
After his time in New Orleans, Perry spent the next season and a half on the Broncos' practice squad, developing behind the scenes while waiting for another shot. That opportunity may finally come in Pittsburgh, where the depth chart at wide receiver is wide open-and the timing couldn’t be better.
At Wake Forest, Perry was a big-play machine. He broke out in 2021 with a 71-catch, 1,293-yard, 15-touchdown season that helped propel the Demon Deacons to the ACC Championship Game.
He followed that up in 2022 with 81 receptions for 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns, cementing himself as one of the ACC’s top receiving threats. His athleticism stood out in pre-draft testing, where he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash and posted an 11-foot-1 broad jump, earning a strong 9.61 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of 10-a metric that measures athletic potential across several categories.
Now, Perry joins a Steelers wide receiver group that’s still very much in flux. Outside of DK Metcalf, who brings star power and physical dominance, the rest of the room is filled with opportunity.
Rookie Roman Wilson, Ben Skowronek, and practice squad returnees Max Hurleman and John Rhys Plumlee are on the roster, but none have locked down significant roles. The team has also added Cole Burgess and Brandon Smith on reserve/future deals, further signaling that competition will be fierce-and wide open-through the offseason and into training camp.
The arrival of new head coach Mike McCarthy adds another layer to the equation. Known for his West Coast offensive roots, McCarthy typically leans on three-wide receiver sets-far different from the tight end-heavy approach favored by former coordinator Arthur Smith. That shift in philosophy could create more snaps and more targets for receivers like Perry, who’s built to work the boundary and stretch the field vertically.
For Perry, this is more than just a depth signing-it’s a genuine shot at resurgence. The Steelers need contributors at wide receiver, and Perry brings size, speed, and red-zone upside. If he can flash the kind of playmaking ability he showed in college and early in his rookie season, he could find himself not just on the 53-man roster, but in the mix for meaningful reps come September.
Bottom line: this is a low-risk, high-upside move for Pittsburgh. And for A.T. Perry, it’s a chance to rewrite the next chapter of his NFL story in a place that’s hungry for new playmakers.