There might not be any greater “bro-mance” in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room than Zach Gentry and Pat Freiermuth.

So when the Steelers posted a sideline interaction of the two tight ends from a December game that involved each saying to the other, “I love you,” it was fitting.

But like many love affairs, this one might not last. Not with Gentry scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in March.

“I have so much love for this organization and the people who are here,” Gentry said soon after the Steelers’ season ended last month, “so (free agency) is going to be quite the process, quite the journey. So I’m just intrigued to see how it goes and what happens.”

The Steelers’ tallest player at 6-foot-8, Gentry has a big decision on where his career goes from here. So, to an extent, do the Steelers, at least as it relates to the direction of their tight ends corps.

Freiermuth has established himself as an upper-echelon NFL tight end who appears to have Pro Bowl berths in his not-too-distant future. Rookie Connor Heyward progressed throughout his first season to the point that he appears to have a viable role in the offense going forward.

Does that leave any room for Gentry, a player who, in 2022, played half of the Steelers’ offensive snaps and started 13 of their 17 games? The Steelers typically don’t talk contract extensions until the dawn of free agency when it comes to players who aren’t upper-end starters and are about to embark on free agency.

Gentry said that has been the case with him. He said as much as he would like to be back for a fifth season in Pittsburgh, if it came down to it, he would be curious to see if another team might view him for a bigger (or more lucrative) role.

“I don’t know who wouldn’t be (curious to hear from teams),” Gentry said. “I think it just depends.”

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) October 4, 2022

The Steelers took a flier on Gentry as a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft. A former highly recruited quarterback who had switched to tight end while at Michigan, Gentry was viewed as a project.

That played out when, as a rookie, he played in just four games. His second season was affected by injury, but by the middle of 2021, Gentry began to settle in as a regular in the offense. Gentry has appeared in all of the Steelers’ 29 games since Week 7 of that season, being on the field for more than half their plays on offense in that time.

“Zach is awesome,” Freiermuth said this past season. “He’s been so good to me and so good to the tight end room. His game has only evolved every single time he takes the field.”

Gentry is well aware — and highly appreciative — of his development over his four seasons with the Steelers.

“Definitely, as a player and as a person, a professional,” he said. “I came in here as a much scrawnier version of myself, a lot more underdeveloped as a player. I just have done a lot of growing as a player and learned a lot from a lot of people in this locker room. On the field and off the field as well.”

But will that development continue for the Steelers in 2023 and beyond? Gentry, who will turn 27 on Sept. 10, the first full day of the 2023 regular season, has had 19 catches during each of the past two seasons. Aside from a 32-yard catch-and-run during the opener at Cincinnati, Gentry’s other 18 catches in 2022 netted just 100 yards.

Gentry’s value, though, is felt more in his blocking, both in pass protection and the running game. Freiermuth and Heyward would appear to be the Steelers’ best receiving threats in the tight end room going forward.

“Obviously, I’m not extremely familiar with (free agency). I’ve never been through it,” Gentry said. “But I think there’s not a whole lot of it in my control until you start hearing from places, organizations. I’m just not sure how it’s going to play out.”

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