Steelers tight end Darnell Washington was rewarded with a four-year $42 million dollar contract extension this offseason after setting career highs in both catches and yards in 2025. Washington has also emerged as a pivotal piece as a blocker for the Pittsburgh offense. With his raise comes higher expectations, and perhaps a bigger role in the offense.
Washington appeared on Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast and talked about his extension, and even opened up about having to cut weight for
the season under a new rule put in place by new head coach Mike McCarthy’s staff.
“Definitely with the new staff and these new weight fines this year, for sure gotta work on that and for sure gonna have to get down.”
Weight fines are not unheard of in the NFL, but are certainly new to Pittsburgh. Washington is one of the game’s largest tight ends, standing six feet seven inches tall, and is on record as saying he was playing at over 300 pounds last season, despite being listed as weighing 264 pounds on the team’s official website.
“I just think my body filled out more. I could be for sure wrong, but I love food. Everybody got an addiction.” Washington said. “Mine is video games and food, so that’s something I for sure gotta work on.”
It’s unclear how much the Steelers want Washington to weigh for the start of the season. Ideally, the team obviously does not want to compromise his supreme blocking abilities. You can also safely suggest that the team wants him to slim down a bit in order to be quicker after the catch with an expanded role in the passing game. One things is clear, the Steelers have made it abundantly clear that Washington is a big part of what the team is trying to accomplish over the next several years, and the tight end is willing to adapt in order to be apart of it.
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