Feb. 14, 2026, 5:08 a.m. ET<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> have over two dozen players from every phase of the game set to hit free agency<\/a> next month, and one of these soon-to-be free agents has been linked to the NFC South and AFC West.<\/p>\n Kenneth Gainwell, who was voted the Steelers 2025 MVP<\/a> and is set to become a free agent in March, was recently connected to the New Orleans Saints<\/a> and Kansas City Chiefs by Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport.<\/p>\n “After four seasons as a role player in Philadelphia, Gainwell saw the most action of his career in his first year with the Steelers<\/a> in 2025,” Davenport wrote.<\/a> “He had 187 total touches last season, including a team-leading 73 receptions. He eclipsed 1,000 total yards, averaged a career-high 4.7 yards per carry, and found the end zone eight times.<\/p>\n “At just 5’9″ and 200 pounds, Gainwell is on the small side for an every-down back. But more NFL teams than not are using backfield committees now anyway, and he offers teams a versatile player who has proven he can produce and who should be available at a reasonable cost. Potential fits: Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints.”<\/p>\n Davenport wasn’t the first to predict Gainwell leaving Pittsburgh, however, as prominent insider Mark Kaboly<\/a> also projected the Steelers to lose their talented running back in free agency, potentially opening the door for Kaleb Johnson<\/a> to take a big Year 2 jump.<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n For up-to-date\u00a0Steelers\u00a0coverage, including any offseason moves, follow us on X\u00a0@TheSteelersWire<\/a>\u00a0and give our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0a like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 14, 2026, 5:08 a.m. ET The Pittsburgh Steelers have over two dozen players from every phase of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[95878,7,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,96718,96719,95882,95893,107504,96129,95888,95895,95906,96720,96071,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-751427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints","16":"tag-sstssportsnflsteelers","17":"tag-sstsnsteelers","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagfacebook","20":"tag-tagkenneth-gainwell","21":"tag-tagnew-orleans-saints","22":"tag-tagnfl","23":"tag-tagnfl-hub","24":"tag-tagoverall-positive","25":"tag-tagpittsburgh-steelers","26":"tag-tagsmg-timely","27":"tag-tagsports-news","28":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116068646083976444","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}