Steelers Free Agent Analysis: MyCole Pruitt
Position: Tight End
Experience: 10 Years (1 with Steelers)
Free Agent Status: Unrestricted
2024 Salary Cap Hit: $1,035,000
2024 Season Breakdown:
MyCole Pruitt has been in the NFL for a decade, most of it with Steelers OC Arthur Smith. He has followed him from Tennessee to Atlanta now to here, but the road has to end eventually. Going into the 2025 season, Pruitt will be 33 years old, and he does not have a contract. While he would be cheap, the Steelers will want to consider whether to bring him back again.
That is not to say that Pruitt didn’t do his job with the Steelers. On the whole, he did what they asked of him, which is more of the same of what Arthur Smith has asked him to do in his offenses for years on end.
As one might imagine, that is why he was here in the first place. MyCole Pruitt signed with the Steelers because Arthur Smith is here. They brought him in, at least in part, to help the rest of the roster learn the new offense. He served that purpose, so perhaps it’s time to move on from him.
Pruitt was limited to 12 games with the Steelers last season due to injury, logging 271 snaps. Over the course of his career, he has pretty consistently played about 35-40 percent of the snaps, which is roughly where he landed a year ago.
While he primarily served as a blocker, Pruitt saw 10 targets in the passing game. He caught six of them for 40 yards, including a touchdown against the Ravens. That was the highlight of his season, and likely the highwater mark of his life as a Steelers player.
Free Agency Outlook:
The Steelers signed MyCole Pruitt to a one-year, Veteran Salary Benefit deal last year with just a $50,000 signing bonus. As I mentioned, his familiarity with Smith’s system likely played a major factor in his signing. Now that that is no longer required, the Steelers may view him as a less desirable addition.
They already have two top tight ends in Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington. Pruitt has always been undersized, and now the Steelers signed an oversized tight end in Donald Parham Jr. The former is more of a blocker, Parham with more receiving ability. At the least, it’s some competition. Even if they re-sign Pruitt, he will have to earn his roster spot every step of the way.
The Steelers have a long list of free agents this year, but not absolutely can’t-lose names. While it includes significant players like Najee Harris and Dan Moore Jr., they are not the team’s priority. The biggest question is the quarterback position, working to choose between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. There are some choice role players, but they wouldn’t fall apart if they lost the entire lot—minus a quarterback.
The Steelers have some key needs this offseason, and they may add to those needs through termination. This is an offseason on which they should focus on cleaning out some dead weight, which has accumulated over time. Perhaps they will turn over the free agents more often than usual, going back to the outside well.