The Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end Darnell Washington signed a hefty contract extension. But just hours after agreeing to the deal, he shared another major update as the Washington family is set to welcome a new member this year.

“Blessed with a baby boy,” Estefany, Darnell’s wife, posted on Instagram on June 3.

Estefany shared a series of beautiful family pictures to announce the news. The couple already has three daughters, and they will now be welcoming a son into their family.

Darnell and Estefany are high school sweethearts. He first learned about Estefany’s first pregnancy during his junior year of high school and initially thought it was a joke his girlfriend was playing on him.

“All these mixed emotions were going through my mind,” Darnell said. “Because at that age and at that time, you hear early pregnancy. You hear how things turn bad. You never hear about a happy ending.”

The Steelers’ tight end had a very humble upbringing. His mother, Katrina Graves, had eight children to raise, and the family often experienced periods of homelessness while living in Southern Nevada.

For that exact reason, Darnell was scared to tell his mother about the pregnancy.

“I thought my mom was gonna flip out and start screaming,” Washington said back then. “She actually surprised me. She just had a really good talk with me, and after that, I was just excited.”

Graves sat him down and made it clear that it was time to grow up and take responsibility for his family. That is exactly what Darnell did.

But before announcing that the Washington family would soon grow from five to six, he had already secured his future in Pittsburgh with a major contract extension.

Washington Secures $42M Extension Despite Limited Production

Darnell Washington signed a contract extension worth $42 million, including $21 million guaranteed, which keeps him with the Steelers through the 2030 season.

With this deal, he became the second player from the 2023 draft class to receive an extension this offseason, after Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig.

What stands out is that Washington now joins the list of the top 12 highest-paid tight ends in the league, despite still having one year remaining on his rookie deal, which was a four-year contract worth $5.35 million.

On top of that, his production has been modest so far. Washington recorded 31 receptions for 364 receiving yards and one touchdown across 16 games last year.

With the new deal, he will earn an average annual salary of $10.5 million. He is set to make $3.67 million in base salary this year while carrying a cap hit of $3.89 million.

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Written by

Shubhi Rathore

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore