In 2025 the Steelers “took a flyer” on free agent running back Kenneth Gainwell giving him a one-year, veteran minimum contract. Gainwell took that opportunity and ran with it well enough to win the Steelers 2025 MVP award.
So if a guy reaches free agency and has just won the MVP award, re-signing him is a no-brainer, Right?
That hasn’t always been so in Pittsburgh, so Steelers Kenneth Gainwell free agency decision promises to be an interesting one.
Kenneth Gainwell runs for 55 yards. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Capsule Profile of Kenneth Gainwell’s Career with the Steelers
In December 2024 the Steelers traveled to Philadelphia and got their teeth kicked in by the eventual Super Bowl Champion. While all eyes were on the Eagles starting running back Saquon Barkley, Mike Tomlin’s were on Kenneth Gainwell.
Gainwell only managed about 20 yards on the ground and another 40 through the air, but that was enough for him to do his damage to the Steeelers defense.
Enough for Mike Tomlin to bring him to Pittsburgh to play alongside Jaylen Warren. The Steelers gave Warren a 2-year contract extension last summer, signaling he might finally become the “feature back” after watching three years of “Sludge Ball” behind Najee Harris.
- What followed next presents an interesting study in the contrast between perception and reality.
As the Steelers offense struggled to find its footing, fans complained, with increasing intensity, about Kenneth Gainwell gaining snaps at Warren’s expense.
- Alas the numbers tell a different story.
- Gainwell averaged 6.7 carries per game to Warren’s 13.
Had the Steelers won consistently, no one would have complained, validating Chuck Noll’s, assertion that questions like “Why don’t you throw to the tight end?” translate to “Why don’t you win?”
Kenneth Gainwell acted as a jack of all trades in Arthur Smith’s 2025 Steelers offense, playing as sort of a modern-day Rodney Carter, a name Generation X Steelers fans might recall.
Need to fake the Tush Push on 4th and 1? Feign like you’re giving it to Connor Heyward and toss it to Gainwell instead who’ll run it for 55 yards.
Players generally win MVP wards because they dominate so thoroughly, their performance is indispensable to the team’s success. Think back to Franco Harris’, Jerome Bettis’ or Le’Veon Bell’s MVP seasons for clear examples.
- Kenneth Gainwell authored a different kind of MVP campaign.
He made slow, steady contributions to the offense that grew as the season progressed.
His efforts, 537 yards rushing and 486 yards receiving with 8 total touchdowns, aren’t best measured in quantity, but rather quality.
Gainwell was the most consistent player on a struggling offense. He delivered when coaches called his number, and those little contributions more often than not had a big part defining the difference between wins and losses.
The Case for the Steelers Re-Signing Kenneth Gainwell
There are a lot of reasons why the Steelers Killer Bees era disappointed, but one that many miss is that piss-poor backfield depth sabotaged Mike Tomlin’s teams in the playoffs for 3 straight years.
Kenneth Gainwell brought the Steelers something they’ve struggled to find: A true number 2 running back who complements the starter, steps in when needed, and makes a difference when he has the ball in his hands.
Spencer Anderson celebrates with Kenneth Gainwell. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
His best play of the season illustrates this. He ran 55 yards on the fake tush push in Chicago, but didn’t score. Jaylen Warren did one play later, highlighting the 1-2 punch the tandem brings Pittsburgh.
Mike McCarthy’s offense will differ in important ways, but the value a true RB No. 2 provides remains indespensable.
Other NFL teams certainly took note of Gainwell’s MVP season and he won’t be an under the radar signing. But he’s also not the type of back that anyone thinks will or should “reset the market.”
He’s someone the Steelers can and should resign.
The Case Against the Steelers Re-Signing Kenneth Gainwell
Yes, Kenneth Gainwell was the best and most consistent player on the Steelers offense. And that says a lot more about how bad that offense was than it does about how good Gainwell is.
Gainwell is a “nice to have” and was a great pickup on a veteran minimum contract, but are you really going to give a legit 2nd contract, one with real guaranteed money, to a backup running back who didn’t even crack 900 all-purpose yards?
Please.
Aaron Rodgers was right when he said that the Steelers offense sort of resembled the Island of Misfit toys. Gainwell was one of those. Yes, he’s a legit role player in a productive, varsity NFL offense – but the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t fielded one of those since what? 2018?
Sure the Steelers have salary cap space to spare, but they doesn’t mean they should waste it on a guy like Gainwell when they’ve got Kaleb Johnson waiting in the wings.
Curtain’s Call on the Steelers and Kenneth Gainwell
Just because Kenneth Gainwell was the MVP last year doesn’t mean the Steelers will bend over backwards to bring him back.
- There’s precedent in Pittsburgh for doing the exact opposite.
Quarterback Neil O’Donnell MVP honors during the Steelers 1995 season. When O’Donnell became a free agent after Super Bowl XXX, Pittsburgh made him an offer, but he declined to get into a bidding war with the New York Jets. Seven years later, Kordell Stewart won the team MVP award in 2001, yet found himself benched permanently in favor of Tommy Maddox in 2002.
At the NFL Scouting Combine Omar Khan confirmed that the Steelers have started negotiations with Gainwell, but if they haven’t signed him by this point, they won’t before free agency starts.
The Steelers will make him an offer they think is fair, allow him to gauge interest from the rest of the NFL, and won’t go beyond their original number. The Steelers value Gainwell’s services. We’ll soon find out if the rest of the NFL values them more.
