Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Exit Interviews: Pat Freiermuth and Trent Scott

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2023.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, we here at BTSC thought we would do the same. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies, first year players, and those heading into free agency, we will do the same. To start, we will pair a potential free agent with a first-year player as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are tight end Pat Freiermuth and offensive tackle Trent Scott.

Pat Freiermuth

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Position: Tight end
Years with the Steelers: 2
Years in the NFL: 2
Contract Status: Signed through 2024
Contract Details: $1,644,049 salary cap hit for 2023. Would cost the Steelers $872,066 in dead money if released and would save $771,983.
Games played in 2022: 16 regular season
Games started in 2022: 8 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 743 (offense), 13 (special teams)
PFF score: 75.5 (7th of 74)
Notable stats: Freiermuth had 63 receptions on 98 targets for 732 yards and two touchdowns.

Notes: There are different parts of Pat Freiermuth’s statistics that went up from his rookie season while others went down. Despite getting 19 more targets his second season, Freiermuth only had three more receptions which created his catch percentage to go from 75.9% to 64.3%. Freiermuth’s yards per reception skyrocketed from 8.3 yards per reception to 11.6 yards per reception his second season. The biggest difference came in his touchdowns where he went from seven as a rookie to only two his second season. But was this as a result of Freiermuth or the offense as a whole? The bottom line is Freiermuth is still a young player heading into his third NFL season who will continue to be an asset to the Steelers emerging offense as long as he continues to be utilized and targeted properly.

Trent Scott

Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

Position: Offensive tackle
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 5
Contract Status: Free Agent
Contract Details: Contract expiring with no dead money.
Games played in 2022: 8 regular season
Games started in 2022: 1 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 31 (offense), 1 (special teams)
PFF score: 70.9 (DNQ for ranking)
Notable stats: Zero penalties called against him in 2022.

Notes: Playing only 31 offensive snaps for the Steelers this season, 30 of them came as the Steelers “jumbo tight end” when Scott was brought onto the field as an eligible receiver but utilized as an extra blocker. With Chuks Okorafor only missing one snap of the season and Dan Moore Junior playing everyone, Scott only saw the field when the Steelers went with their jumbo package. Even though he wasn’t utilized often, Scott wasn’t a liability when he was on the field which is about as much as someone can ask for in his position. Whether or not he wants to return to the Steelers is ultimately up to him, but a roster spot is not something that’s automatically guaranteed based on the rest of the Steelers offseason moves.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Kenny Pickett & Mason Rudolph
George Pickens & Miles Boykin
DeMarvin Leal & Larry Ogunjobi
Connor Heyward & Zach Gentry
Mark Robinson & Devin Bush
Jaylen Warren & Benny Snell Jr.
Calvin Austin III & Derek Watt
Najee Harris & Terrell Edmunds