After four years in Pittsburgh, James Washington is coming back to his home state. The former Steelers receiver is signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys, the team announced.
A native of Stamford, Texas, Washington was the 60th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. During his time with the Steelers, the 5-foot-11, 213-pound wideout showed flashes of his potential but ultimately never materialized into a consistent weapon in Pittsburgh's offense. He played in less than 50% of the Steelers' offensive snaps during his final seven games with the team, as it became clear that Washington was not going to be part of Pittsburgh's plans beyond the 2021 season.
Ironically, Washington's best season with the Steelers was 2019, the season where Ben Roethlisberger missed the final 14 games with an injury. With Mason Rudolph (his quarterback at Oklahoma State) and Devlin Hodges under center, Washington set career highs with 44 receptions for 735 yards and three touchdowns. In Week 12 of that season, Washington's 79-yard touchdown pass from Hodges helped the Steelers post a 16-10 win over the Bengals.
Washington enjoyed a prolific college career at Oklahoma State, where he caught 226 passes for 4,472 yards and 39 touchdowns in four seasons. He won the Biletnikoff Award in 2017 after catching 74 passes for 1,549 yards and 13 touchdowns.
In Dallas, Washington will join a Cowboys receiving corps that Michael Gallup (who was recently signed to a multiyear contract) and CeeDee Lamb. Dallas recently traded former Pro Bowler Amari Cooper to the Browns in exchange for a fifth-round pick and a swapping of sixth-round picks.
Washington will join forces with Cowboys quarterback Dan Prescott, who last season completed nearly 68.8% of his passes for 4,449 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Led by Prescott's passing and a top-10 scoring defense, the Cowboys won the NFC East division title for the first time since 2018. Dallas then came up short against the 49ers in the NFC wild card round.
