PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Connor Heyward got honest talking after practice on Wednesday. The fourth-year tight end has heard the noise around a potenital trade for Pro Bowler Jonnu Smith, and while he sees Smith as a great player, Heyward says the addition would be ‘complicated.’
“We all see it, but let’s be honest. It would be complicated having him and Pat. They’re kind of the same type of tight end,” Heyward said. “They both got to have 100 balls a year thrown their way. You’ve seen that. We all have produced, me, Darnell, and Pat. If that was to happen, we’d welcome it, but at the same time, we know Pat’s our guy right now. How often we’re going to go through him, DK, Cal(vin Austin), and our running backs. Whenever me and Darnell get it, we make the most of it. We know our role. Pat is one of our major guys here, and not just here with the Steelers, but in the city. People aren’t just saying Muth for no reason. Pat’s here. If that was happening, and I don’t think it’s going to happen, but Pat’s here. We have DK. That’s like having George and DK. You’ve got to have one. It’ll be interesting. We have a lot of guys that are interchangeable. Jonnu Smith is a hell of a player, though. Pat’s a hell of a player. I’m really excited for Darnell and everybody. Year two in this offense, I think everybody’s more comfortable.”
From Heyward, it is a brutal admission on how Smith ahd Freiermuth would fit together in the offense. The Steelers have a ton invested into the tight end position already, but with Donald Parham going down, Heyward admitted he was sick for Parham.
“We know what Pat can do. He doesn’t have to do OTAs. He still wants to come out here and get better. He had food poisoning. You don’t wish that on anybody. I felt like this year, with Donald or not, I would just come in and focus on whatever the coaches want me to do,” Heyward said.
Smith was a Pro Bowl selection in 2024 for the first time in his career. He set career-highs last year with 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight touchdowns in the Dolphins offense. All of those marks were franchise records.
Smith, 29, will turn 30 in August. He and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith have many connections throughout history. In Tennessee, the player-coach duo worked together for four seasons from when Arthur Smith was a tight ends coach to when he took over as the team’s offensive coordinator. Jonnu joined Arthur in Atlanta for one season, too.
