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Steelers Snag Super Bowl Champion Running Back
The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to sign Philadelphia Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell to a free agent contract, according to a report by Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report.
Gainwell, 25, spent the last four seasons with the Eagles, winning a Super Bowl ring this past February. He originally joined the Eagles as a fifth-round pick out of Memphis in 2021.
He played in 66 games for the Eagles over the last four seasons, primarily serving as a change of pace running back and receiving weapon to players like Saquon Barkley, DeAndre Swift and Miles Sanders.
In his career, he has rushed 280 times for 1,185 yard and 12 touchdowns, maintaining a 4.2 yards per carry average. He’s also caught 102 of 138 targets for 721 yards and another score.
This past season, Gainwell played in all 17 games, rushing 75 times for 290 yards and one touchdown and catching 16 of 22 targets for 116 yards. Against the Steelers in Week 15, he had seven carries for 20 yards and three catches for 40 yards. In four games in the playoffs for Philadelphia, he had 13 carries for 42 yards and three receptions for 26 yards.
Gainwell has also returned kickoffs for the Eagles. He had 18 kickoff returns for 456 yards, for a 25.3 yards per return average, far better that of Steelers returning return men Cordarrelle Patterson and Jaylen Warren.
A native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, attended the University of Memphis, where he was a college teammate of current Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III.
Gainwell played just two seasons of college football at Memphis, choosing to sit out the 2020 season during the COVID-19 pandemic. He played sparingly as a freshman in 2018, but had a breakout season in 2019, rushing 231 times for 1,459 yards and 13 touchdowns and also catching 51 passes for 610 yards and three scores.
In pre-draft testing, Gainwell ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, but posted average explosiveness testing scores with a 35-inch vertical and a 10-foot-1 broad jump, and struggled with a 4.46-second shuttle run and a 7.26-second three-cone drill. That, combined with his undersized nature at 5-foot-8 3/8 and 201 pounds, gave him an overall 5.66 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.
Gainwell should serve as a compliment to Warren in the Steelers running back rotation, after the exit of incumbent starter Najee Harris, who signed with the Los Angeles Chargers. He could be a replacement for Patterson, a potential salary cap casualty after struggling as a kickoff returner last season.
The Steelers will also likely need to add a bigger back to the rotation, though that can be accomplished with a deep class in the 2025 NFL Draft.