Steelers Sign Former Cardinals RB in Preparation for the 2025 Season

ARIZONA — The Pittsburgh Steelers officially announced the signing of former Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Ward to a futures/reserve contract ahead of the 2025 season.

Ward – who went undrafted – began his NFL career with the Cardinals in 2020 and played in 14 games his rookie season, catching one touchdown pass after featuring mostly as a special teams player.

Ward featured in 13 games the following season in 2021 and logged his first NFL carries that season, picking up three first downs.

In 2022, Ward played five games for the Cardinals before landing on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He was later waived, claimed by the New York Jets, and was released before eventually landing with the Tennessee Titans – whom he played three games with to finish the regular season.

Ward stuck around in Tennessee for 2023, where he featured in seven games. Last offseason, he signed with the Steelers and played four games for Pittsburgh before re-signing with the organization.

Ward inked a futures contract, which essentially means players can’t negotiate with other teams and they do not count against the team’s salary cap until the new league year begins. These sorts of deals from teams help fill out the roster for training camp later in the summer.

Ward is just 27 years old and has a strong amount of football under his belt, which could help his chances yet again of being (at worst) a practice squad guy in Pittsburgh under names such as Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.