Nick Herbig Cashes In With $100 Million Steelers Extension as Pittsburgh Builds Pass Rush
Nick Herbig is about to be very, very rich, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are doubling down on their pass rush.
Per multiple reports, the Steelers and outside linebacker Nick Herbig have agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension. That is a top-of-market level deal for a player who has produced exactly the kind of edge pressure Pittsburgh has built its identity around for decades.
It also makes Herbig one of the highest-paid players on the entire Steelers roster, joining a pass rush group that already features T.J. Watt on a deal worth more than $112 million in new money and Alex Highsmith on a long-term extension signed in 2023.
The investment is significant for a team that is trying to prove it can still win in the Mike Tomlin era. Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, despite Tomlin’s run of never having a losing year as head coach. That gap has been the constant criticism of the franchise.
The Herbig extension is a bet that defense, not offense, is going to drag the Steelers back to the playoffs. The numbers back that thinking.
Herbig posted 11 sacks in 2025, his second full season with the Steelers, while playing rotational snaps behind Watt and Highsmith. He was disruptive on third downs and finished the year with a strong pressure rate per snap. Pittsburgh got that production from a 24-year-old former fourth-round pick.
The interesting wrinkle is what this means for Highsmith. Highsmith has two years left on his current deal, but Pittsburgh’s salary cap math gets very tight if all three top edge rushers stay through 2027. The Steelers may have just decided Herbig is the future and Highsmith is now in a contract spot most teams treat as flexible.
Highsmith reportedly missed practice last week due to illness, per Steelers spokesperson Burt Lauten. That is the kind of detail that gets noticed when a contract extension at his position happens to a teammate the next day.
The bigger picture is what Pittsburgh is doing. The Steelers are building around their defense and trusting whatever quarterback play they get to be enough. That has been the Tomlin playbook since 2007. Herbig getting $100 million is the latest chapter.
The question is whether this defense, even with Watt healthy and Herbig paid, can carry a Steelers offense that has been mediocre for years. The AFC North is brutal. Baltimore has Lamar Jackson. Cincinnati has Joe Burrow. Cleveland is rebuilding but capable.
The Herbig extension says the Steelers think the defense alone can get them home. The next two seasons will tell us whether that is a smart bet or another expensive lesson.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
