After signing former Aaron Rodgers teammate and veteran tight end Robert Tonyan on Thursday, the Steelers made room by waiving tight end Chamon Metayer, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson . Metayer was part of the Steelers’ initial undrafted free agent class in 2026. He played college football in 2025 alongside Pittsburgh first-round pick Max Iheanachor at Arizona State. Now, the Steelers’ current tight end room consists of Pat Freiermuth , the recently-extended Darnell Washington , Tonyan, Jaheim Bell , J.J. Galbreath, UDFA signing Lake McRee, and rookie fullback hybrid Riley Nowakowski. Steelers minicamp concluded Thursday, but OTAs will resume on Monday. Let us know what you think in the comments . Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more! Pittsburgh Steelers trade rumors shut down by NFL insider Steelers sign former first round linebacker to one-year deal Steelers sign former Packers TE Robert Tonyan Steelers WR Roman Wilson impressing in minicamp as he chases spot in offense Steelers sign TE Darnell Washington to $42 million extension
Undrafted free agents have played a big part in Pittsburgh Steelers history, from all-time greats such as Donnie Shell and James Harrison , to “Fast” Willie Parker , the record holder for the Super Bowl’s longest rushing touchdown, and even today with the team’s one-two punch of Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle at running back. With that in mind, we at Read & React wanted to break down what to expect from the team’s 2026 UDFA class with OTAs just around the corner. With the team making 10 picks in the draft, it was a smaller group of UDFAs than usual, but a few have slightly better roster chances than you might expect. Let’s dive in: RP: Of all the UDFAs the Steelers brought in, McRee is the player with the best shot at making the roster. BTSC readers that I’ve talked to during the draft process might recall that McRee was a player I liked as a potential pick-up for the Steelers. But those who followed my Draft Gems series might also recall that he didn’t make my list for tight ends — unlike Steelers draft pick Riley Nowakowski. That’s because I believe there are essentially two main tight end archetypes: pass catchers and blockers. I was focused on blockers with the Steelers top two spots on the depth chart locked in. Those players, Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington , represent my archetypes to a tee. Freiermuth, the pass catcher, is a more fluid mover with better hands, but he lacks high-end technique and power as a blocker. Washington, meanwhile, is a mountain of a man who is among the best blocking tight ends in the league, but he’s a clunkier runner than Freiermuth and has yet to have more than 364 yards or one touchdown in a single season. McRee falls more into the Freiermuth end of the spectrum. McRee likely went undrafted due to a combination of injury history, size, and lack of explosive athleticism. At 6’4 and 243 pounds, McRee is on the small end for a tight end. However, he is bigger than the recently signed Jaheim Bell (6’2, 241 pounds), his main competition for the third tight end spot, and he has a longer wingspan than Freiermuth, so his size isn’t unheard of in the NFL. McRee also didn’t test as a particularly explosive athlete with a 4.79-second forty time and pedestrian scores in his vertical (29th percentile) and broad jump (22nd percentile). The real kicker, though, was most likely his history of knee problems, which include: Torn ACL in high school (2019) A torn ACL in his third year in college (2023) A knee injury that cost him four games (2024) Nagging injuries that shut down his spring practices early (2025) But with all that baggage acknowledged, he was a security blanket for Trojan’s quarterback Jayden Maiava in 2025 when defenses took away star receiver Makai Lemon. McRee set career highs in receptions (30), yards (445), and four touchdowns, with 21 of his receptions (70%) converting first downs. What I think first stood out to me about McRee is that he is incredibly tough over the middle and through contact at the catch point. When you see a guy take a hit and hold onto the ball, it sticks with you, and McRee has that on his tape on a few occasions. McRee isn’t the most polished route runner, but he operates in vertical concepts with a baseline level of competency. He isn’t beating most in a foot race, nor does he have silky moves and footwork to beat man coverage with regularity, but when attacking the seams, McRee can run to the soft spot in the zone (first clip), and he can get to his spot and win when given favorable leverage from the defender (second clip). In the third clip above, McRee does a small inside fake before breaking on the corner route to attack the defense’s zone coverage. He benefits from the scheme stressing the defense with both a vertical threat over the top of his route, as well as a shallow route from the running back preventing the outside linebacker from sinking too deep with his zone, but McRee makes a nice catch along the sideline to pay it off. McRee has al
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