NFL veteran wide receiver James Washington signed a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Washington spent the first four years of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted him in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Former Steelers’ WR James Washington is going back to his home state of Texas and signing a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys, per his agents @DrewJRosenhaus and @RyanMatha.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 18, 2022
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James Washington, Dallas Cowboys, Agree to Contract
2021 was a weird year for Washington, who seemed to spend most of the year in Mike Tomlin’s dog house. When JuJu Smith-Schuster went down early in the season, the thought was that Washington would be a solid number three receiver for the Steelers. Instead, his playing time barely increased, as he was passed by Ray-Ray McCloud on the depth chart. Washington played the least snaps of any season in his career, and saw the smallest number of targets since his rookie season.
In the regular season, Washington caught 24 passes on 44 targets for 285 yards and two touchdowns. A likely reason for his drop in production was the lack of any deep passing ability by Ben Roethlisberger. Usually a deep ball threat, Washington recorded the lowest yards per reception in his career in 2021, as he was asked to play a different style than the one that suits him best. He did perform well in the Steelers playoff loss to the Chiefs, though, with two incredible jump ball receptions to go with a touchdown.
James Washington had the best year of his career in 2019 when he was able to rekindle his Oklahoma State flame with Mason Rudolph. When Roethlisberger went down, Washington connected well with Rudolph. Then when Rudolph struggled, Washington quickly built a strong connection with the Steelers next quarterback, Devlin “Duck” Hodges. Washington finished that 2019 season with 735 yards on 44 catches, a 16.7 yards per catch mark that is by far a career high. He added three touchdowns as well, which comes second place to the five he had in the 2020 season. Washington is a physical receiver who blocks well in the running game and can make contested, deep ball catches when given the chance.
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