The Steelers have placed a second-round tender on restricted free agent RB Jaylen Warren. That'll pay him $5.346 million for the coming season, barring a longer-term agreement between the player and team. The tender also doesn't keep Warren from hitting free agency. It does, however, mean that any team signing him away from Pittsburgh would have to send the Steelers a second-round pick.
I wouldn't bet on any team trading a second-round selection for a 26-year-old, fourth-year RB who will turn 27 in November and has averaged just 7.2 carries per game for his career to date.
The level of the tender might actually indicate how much the Steelers want Warren to return. They could have placed an original-round tender on him and been on the hook for less 2025 salary ($3.4 million). But Warren arrived as an undrafted free agent. So that setup wouldn't give Pittsburgh anything if the RB signed elsewhere.
Expect Warren to return to a backfield that also looks likely to lose Najee Harris via unrestricted free agency.
That departure would obviously make Warren the top bet to lead the Steelers' backfield ... at least temporarily.
This year's RB draft class holds plenty of disruptive options, though. So beware of treating Warren as too much of a sure thing before the NFL Draft plays out.
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