Nick Herbig’s massive extension creates a $84 million logjam at edge rusher, forcing the Pittsburgh Steelers to balance salary cap constraints against a championship run with its veteran stars.
The Pittsburgh Steelers invested in their future by giving Nick Herbig a four-year contract extension worth $100 million this week (the contract will kick in next season).
But the real question now becomes what will the Steelers do with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith for the upcoming season, as Pittsburgh chose to run it back with a core group of veterans.
Herbig earned the extension after making just 11 starts in three years for Pittsburgh. He played in 610 of the Steelers’ defensive snaps (60 percent) last season, and racked up 7.5 sacks while making six starts.
Watt started in 14 games and earned sacks in addition to 55 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two interceptions and three forced fumbles. Highsmith earned 50 tackles, 9.5 sacks and one forced fumble last season in 13 starts.
Pittsburgh insider Mark Kaboly noted that the Steelers do not plan to trade Watt or Highsmith after extending Herbig, though common wisdom would suggest that's the best move for the team to make after seeing what the Cleveland Browns landed for Myles Garrett.
"The Steelers aren’t going all in for a last run with this core group just to trade their most prolific pass rusher in team history for pennies on the dollar and eat crazy dead cap numbers in the process and subject themselves to potential depth issues," Kaboly wrote.
"They aren’t going to move on from arguably their most talented pass-rusher in Highsmith, who happens to be playing at a crazy affordable salary for two more years and had a team MVP-caliber season in 2025.”
Kaboly argued the Steelers paying $84 million per year to Watt, Highsmith and Herbig this season "doesn't make sense" given the constraints of the $301 million salary cap.
Pittsburgh Steelers must plan for 3 pass-rushers
Barry Reeger-Imagn ImagesSo what will Pittsburgh do with a $25 million pass-rusher coming off the bench?
Kaboly thinks the Steelers could find a way to get all three guys on the field at the same time.
Nick Farabaugh of PennLive believes Herbig will see a bigger piece of the pie in terms of playing time this fall. Keeping all three players on the roster will allow Pittsburgh to keep their edge rushers fresh.
"Herbig's snap count should and probably will be upped this year," he posted on X. "Makes total sense. It should just mean someone like Watt doesn't need to play such a high snap share, even if he is a workhorse by nature.
"Highsmith in that vein, too. Keep those guys fresh and healthy."
Is it in the best interest to trade Watt or Highsmith now? It depends on if you think Aaron Rodgers, with an upgraded offense, can lead the team to a Super Bowl this season.
The defense shouldn't be worse than last season. Though keeping their core group means Pittsburgh will lose trade value before the 2027 offseason.
Having three starting-caliber pass-rushers is a good problem to have for the Steelers this season, and could pay dividends if the team remains in playoff contention in December and January.
The Steelers will have to rebuild eventually, but they're still legit contenders in 2026, even though the chances of winning a Super Bowl are very slim.
