The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Pat Freiermuth 55th overall in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Freiermuth quickly established himself as the clear-cut top tight end on the Steelers roster, leading to the tight end signing a four-year extension in 2024 worth up to $48.4 million. Freiermuth rewarded that extension with a seven-touchdown, 653-yard performance that year, but is coming off a disappointing 2025 season where he was seemingly phased out of the offense for long periods of time.
Now, one former Steelers tight end claims that drafting Freiermuth at all was a poor decision by the Steelers.
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Appearing on Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast, Eric Ebron blasted the Steelers decision to draft Freiermuth over current Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro center Creed Humphrey.
“Instead of getting Humphrey, we get Freiermuth, as if we needed a tight end,” he said. “We needed to protect this old mother f****r , and I don’t have a problem with him being the quarterback, but then make the right decisions to protect his a**. Do you feel what I’m saying? We don’t need more weapons. He could barely get it to the ones we had. We needed to protect him. I felt like if we could have protected him, he’s still Ben Roethlisberger, then we get that extra second or two, create a little space, get open.”
Honestly, Ebron may have a point that drafting Freiermuth over Humphrey was a misstep in hindsight. Humphrey is a two-time all-pro, four-time Pro Bowler, and has won two Super Bowls so far in his career. However, Ebron clearly is holding onto some old resentments, considering Freiermuth’s emergence cost him his starting role for the team. Ebron found himself out of the NFL the following year at just 29 years old and was never able to catch on with a team again. He officially announced his retirement in December of 2024, three years removed from his last game.
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