Steelers A to Z: Robert Woods brings veteran leadership to WR corps
Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 12 and July 23. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.
WR ROBERT WOODS
Experience/age: 13th season, 33
Contract status: $2 million cap hit on a one-year deal in 2025
The past: A two-time all-Pac 12 honoree who was consensus All-America in 2011, Woods was a second-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2013. After four seasons averaging 51 catches, Woods moved on to the Los Angeles Rams. He had three seasons of 86 or more catches and two with at least 1,000 yards for the Rams, playing in a Super Bowl (2018) and winning a Super Bowl ring (he was injured when L.A. won Super Bowl LVI in February 2022). Since that torn ACL, though, Woods hasn’t matched his pre-injury production. In three seasons while playing for the Tennessee Titans (2022) and Houston Texans (2023-24), Woods totaled 113 receptions, 1,156 yards and three touchdowns.
After finishing seventh on the team in catches (20) and yards (203) with no touchdowns last season, Woods entered free agency and remained unsigned for six weeks before the Steelers signed him to a one-year, $2 million contract.
New Steelers WR Robert Woods says he plays “grimy,” and that that style in part comes from a background as a DB pic.twitter.com/kDIRe0W0e8
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 29, 2025
2025 outlook: Woods comes to Pittsburgh with the reputation of being the proverbial good locker room guy who brings veteran leadership. Early during organized team activities, Woods already was establishing a mindset about the receiving corps embracing being “grimy.” He also was embracing comparisons to the blocking ability of two-time Steelers Super Bowl champion Hines Ward.
Like Ward by his final NFL season as a 35-year-old in 2011, Woods isn’t the dynamic receiver he once was. He might impact the team more via intangibles and blocking than with long gains or bushels of touchdowns. But on a team without a clear-cut No. 2 wide receiver, Woods remains in the running for winning that role opposite DK Metcalf. He isn’t necessarily the favorite (Calvin Austin III or an outside acquisition is), but Woods is in the group with Austin and Roman Wilson as likeliest candidates. At worst, Woods ends up a depth receiver whose persona is the polar opposite of the man he ostensibly replaced on the roster (George Pickens).
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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