Steelers RB La’Mical Perine Will Wear No. 38

Pittsburgh Steelers RB La’Mical Perine, who the team signed earlier this week, will No. 38. That information was first passed along by the NFL Jersey Numbers Twitter account, which has been reliable in announcing new jersey numbers and number changes throughout the offseason. We have confirmed that Perine is listed as No. 38 on the team’s media roster.

Pittsburgh Steelers RB La’Mical Perine (@LP_deucedeuce) is wearing number 38. Currently shared with Nate Meadors. #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/74KNJKjyyQ

— NFL Jersey Numbers (@nfl_jersey_num) May 25, 2024

Perine wore No. 29 with the Kansas City Chiefs and No. 22 with the New York Jets, so the third team of his career brings the third different number of his career.

Perine’s No. 38 will be shared with Nate Meadors, who the team signed to a reserve/futures contract in January. Players can share numbers on the offseason roster, with offensive and defensive players traditionally sharing numbers so there aren’t two players wearing the same number on the same side of the ball.

Perine joins Pittsburgh after two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and two with the New York Jets after being a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Jets. Perine had 22 carries for 77 yards with the Chiefs last season, and for his career he has 94 carries for 340 yards and two touchdowns.

He’ll be competing in the backfield with Jonathan Ward, Daijun Edwards and Aaron Shampklin for a roster spot that may come down to how well they can do on special teams. Perine saw the most special teams snaps of his career in 2023, as he played 55 special teams snaps in three games for the Chiefs.

The Steelers have added a number of running backs this offseason to lighten the load on RBs Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson in workouts, and those three are roster locks. The Steelers don’t want to risk injury to any of them, so adding more backs who will touch the ball often can help lighten the load and reduce the injury risk as the team continues with OTAs and gets into training camp.