By 1 measure, Omar Khan’s 1st draft class shaping up among Steelers’ most fruitful in decades

For the fourth consecutive year, Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig have been going at it during Pittsburgh Steelers practices.

“We line up across from each other almost every day in camp whenever we are both in,” Washington, a tight end, said last week after a minicamp practice. “Just going against him and competing against him and seeing his hard work, you like seeing that pay off.”

That work has paid off for Washington, too, in the form of a contract extension signed last week just a day after Herbig inked one.

By all indications, they won’t be the only Steelers earning contract extensions this summer. As respective third- and fourth-round picks in 2023, Herbig and Washington were part of Omar Khan’s first draft class as Steelers general manager.

Three years later, as many as five of the seven players selected by Khan & Co. between April 27-29, 2023, are worthy of serious consideration for a contract extension as they enter the final seasons of their rookie deals.

That speaks volumes about the quality of that draft for the Steelers. In fact, the depth of that 2023 class is unprecedented for the franchise in the free agency era of the NFL that began 33 years ago.

“I think anytime you look at the development of your roster, the second contract is huge,” new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy said. “The second contract is important not only to the to the individual, but for me personally, with the new program, new direction and process.”

Herbig, an outside linebacker, signed a four-year, $100 million extension. Washington’s contract, likewise, runs through 2030 and included four years and $42 million of additional compensation.

Two current defensive starters drafted by the Steelers before that pair — cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton, each a second rounder — also are eligible for and worthy of contract extensions. Toss in that seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson has been a top reserve and capable fill-in starter on the interior offensive line over the past two seasons and is taking first-team reps at guard this summer, and that leaves the potential for as many as five 2023 Steelers draftees earning a second contract with the team.

That has never happened for the Steelers over the modern history of the sport, which, for these purposes, began in 1993 with the advent of unrestricted free agency.

Among the first 30 draft classes since, the Steelers only once agreed to extensions with as many as three players before they entered the final season of their rookie contracts.

That was during the summers of 2014 and 2015, when 2011 first-round defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, second-round offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert and fourth-round cornerback Cortez Allen signed extensions.

The 2011 Steelers draft class was — until last week — the most recent one in which even as many as two players whose rookie contracts were entering their final years signed extensions.

“I’d love to keep that whole (2023 draft) class here,” Herbig said. “It was our class that really set it off, and I think we got a bunch of dogs in there. I’m excited.”

With two deals done more than seven weeks in advance of training camp — also a first in team history for players three-plus years out from being drafted — the Steelers are expected to prioritize Porter Jr. next. Emerging as one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks, Porter Jr. is expected to command a deal even more lucrative than Herbig’s.

It would not be surprising if Porter signs what would be the biggest “second contract” the Steelers have ever given. T.J. Watt’s four-year, $112 extension in 2021 is the current benchmark.

A 2017 first-round pick, Watt joins receiver Diontae Johnson in the summer of 2022, Alex Highsmith in 2023 and Pat Freiermuth in 2024 as the only players over the eight offseasons prior to this year who signed an extension before the final season of their rookie contract.

It should be noted that, over the years, more than a dozen former Steelers draft picks signed extensions during the spring after their rookie contracts expired, some of those by way of the franchise or transition tags.

But even when accounting for those types of players, never in the free agency era have the Steelers kept as many as four players from any one draft class for more than the term of their rookie deals.

Over these next few months, if Porter (as expected) is joined by Benton and/or Anderson in getting a new deal, the Steelers would break that mold.

What’s remarkable is that one player from 2023 who is not getting an extension is the first-round pick, offensive tackle Broderick Jones.

Even if after-the-season contracts are counted, only the Steelers draft classes of 1998 (Alan Faneca, Hines Ward, DeShea Townsend), 2002 (Kendall Simmons, Larry Foote and Brett Keisel) and 2018 (Chuks Okorafor, Mason Rudolph, Terrell Edmunds) join the 2011 trio as threesomes who got second contracts from the Steelers.

“I think you should judge your draft classes on second contracts, from my experience,” McCarthy said, “and the fact that we feel that good about that many guys tells you how good of a class it is.”