The Steelers\u2019 decision to move quickly to give linebacker Nick Herbig a four-year, $100 million extension makes the organization\u2019s feeling about the 2023 fourth-round pick clear. As to two other pass rushers on the Pittsburgh roster, it raises questions.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time that a team has given a backup a $100 million contract. Which means that Herbig possibly won\u2019t be a backup on Mike McCarthy\u2019s initial official depth chart.<\/p>\n
Linebacker T.J. Watt, a first-round pick in 2017, signed a three-year, $123 million extension in 2025. He\u2019s making $41 million per year.<\/p>\n
In 2023, linebacker Alex Highsmith (a third-round pick in 2020) signed a four-year, $68 million extension. His new-money APY is $17 million.<\/p>\n
The Steelers could keep all three of them, at least for a year. Or they could sit back and wait to see if another team makes them an offer, for either Watt or Highsmith.<\/p>\n
Trading Watt would avoid $32 million in guaranteed pay for 2026, while triggering a $10 million cap charge in 2026 and a $20 million cap charge in 2027. Trading Highsmith would avoid his $14.5 million salary for 2026, with a cap charge of $5.6 million in 2026 and a $5.6 million cap charge in 2027.<\/p>\n
Chances are the phone has already been ringing. That\u2019s how it goes. Teams always explore whether other players are available, and what it could take to get them.<\/p>\n
Given the value of pass rushers \u2014 and given that plenty of teams are looking for more of them (the Bears could use one, badly) \u2014 the Herbig deal becomes a de facto invitation for other teams to make an offer, for either Watt or Highsmith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Steelers\u2019 decision to move quickly to give linebacker Nick Herbig a four-year, $100 million extension makes the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-715202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}