With Najee Harris out the door this offseason after four years of leading the Pittsburgh Steelers backfield, Omar Khan has done the work required to replace him and then some. He brought back Jaylen Warren, signed former Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell, and drafted Iowa's Kaleb Johnson in the third round.
Pittsburgh has made it clear that they want to be a more physical football team in 2025, and building up a deep and talented running back room is a big part of that.
Even with four rosterable backs on the team, they added another runner who was once considered worthy of a Day 2 draft pick.
Pittsburgh Steelers add Trey Sermon to their already deep running back room
Trey Sermon was once, upon a time, a San Francisco 49ers third-round pick back in 2021. He was, unfortunately, one of many Day 2 failures the 49ers have had in recent years. He was relatively effective in limited playing time as a rookie, but he was still waived by the team before his second season.
He was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles and spent the 2022 season with them, only carrying the ball twice. He then joined the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad and has been a backup for them over the past two seasons.
He is a physical runner but lacks the athleticism to be a consistent contributor. That's why he ended up needing to attend the Steelers' rookie minicamp. He received no interest following a rough 2024 season where he averaged just 2.8 yards per attempt.
The Steelers clearly saw something in him during the camp, at least enough to officially sign him to the roster for now. With training camp fast approaching, Sermon will have an uphill battle to make the roster.
If Pittsburgh does keep four running backs on their 53-man roster (something they haven't done since 2021), he would likely need to beat out Cordarrelle Patterson. It's more likely at this point that both he and Patterson will be looking for another team come September, if not sooner.
Still, it's an intriguing addition that should make training camp more competitive for the rest of the backs.
