{"id":691316,"date":"2026-05-24T10:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/691316\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:36:20","slug":"steelers-make-surprise-move-with-veteran-starter-ahead-of-2026-nfl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/691316\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers make surprise move with veteran starter ahead of 2026 NFL season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> aren’t finished making moves this offseason, as the team has created a little more financial flexibility after restructuring a veteran starter’s contract.<\/p>\n

According to Nick Farabaugh of PennLive, the Steelers<\/a> restructured tight end Pat Freiermuth<\/a>‘s contract on Saturday, changing part of his salary into a roster bonus, which pushed some of his cap hit into later years.<\/p>\n

Selected by the Steelers with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Freiermuth appeared in 78 games during his first five seasons with Pittsburgh, recording 2,676 yards and 22 touchdowns on 261 catches.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 13, vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brett Davis, Brett Davis-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 13, vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brett Davis, Brett Davis-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, at New England Patriots, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brian Fluharty, Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 4: Thursday Night Football, Oct. 1, at Cleveland Browns, 8:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Justin K. Aller, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, vs. Indianapolis Colts, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Justin K. Aller, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 18, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Barry Reeger, Barry Reeger-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at New Orleans Saints, 9:30 a.m. ET (Paris)<\/p>\n

(SCOTT CLAUSE\/USA TODAY Network, SCOTT CLAUSE\/USA TODAY Network)\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, vs. Cleveland Browns, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Jeff Lange, Jeff Lange \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

9 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games (Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

10 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Takeaways from the Steelers 2026 regular-season schedule release<\/p>\n

Week 10: Sunday Night Football, Nov. 15, at Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Sam Greene\/The Enquirer, Sam Greene\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

11 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Bill Streicher, Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

12 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 12: Friday, Nov. 27, vs. Denver Broncos, 3:00 p.m. ET (Black Friday Game)<\/p>\n

(Ron Chenoy, Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

13 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 13: Sunday Night Football, Dec. 6, vs. Houston Texans, 8:20 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

14 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 14: Monday Night Football, Dec. 14, at Jacksonville Jaguars, 8:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union)\"\"<\/p>\n

15 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

16 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 16: TBD, vs. Carolina Panthers, TBD<\/p>\n

(Allison Lawhon, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

17 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 3, at Tennessee Titans, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Philip G. Pavely, Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

18 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 18: TBD, at Baltimore Ravens, TBD<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Freiermuth’s lessened cap hit gives the Steelers a little more flexibility heading into 2026, but there are still plenty of other contract decisions to make, such as extending Joey Porter Jr.<\/a> and Nick Herbig<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

For up-to-date\u00a0Steelers\u00a0coverage, including any offseason moves, follow us on X\u00a0@TheSteelersWire<\/a>\u00a0and give our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0a like.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers restructure Pat Freiermuth’s contract for 2026 NFL season<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t finished making moves this offseason, as the team has created a little more financial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,95119,593,337395,86701,245616,72402,1241,85],"class_list":["post-691316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-joey-porter-jr","tag-nfl","tag-nick-farabaugh","tag-nick-herbig","tag-offseason-moves","tag-pat-freiermuth","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}