LB Nick Herbig and the Steelers have agreed on a four-year, $100 million

Maybe next year

 

Holy &#^t.

A part time player who has been hurt to often got a 100 million dollar extension?

Someone tell me this is fake news.

 

It was earlier today....

 

Watt or Highsmith will be going.

I'm not set on Herbig. He comes in the game situationally with fresh legs.

Is he a starter long term? I guess we find out.

Where does this leave Porter, Jr?

 

One thing is for certain. You don't let young edge players that rush the quarterback as well as he does just walk out without getting compensation. He is too valuable to just let walk away and get a middling comp pick.

This most likely sets up trading one of the edge players. They can now trade any of them because they are all under contract. Even Herbig can be traded because they now control his future and his contract.

 

Thank god man. Losing him has been haunting rent free for the past two months.

Once he becomes a full time player, this deal will look like a steal. Elite edge rusher

 

I hope this makes guys like Sawyer, Bruener, and P. Wilson take notice. We need a young rotation in that LB room. Let's GO!

 

I hope they trade Highsmith.

IF Herbig is the guy some think he is....then his contract will be a major value. Regardless of how Watt plays moving forward....most teams are going to discount the return to make the salary work. Highsmith is in a sweet spot where his contract vs production will fit for most teams.

but is that alignment of value compared to production enough to pry a first rounder out of anyone?

 

Be really interested to see the yearly cash hits for this one. There might be a way that it hits so that the big numbers are in years 3&4. I think one of Watt or Highsmith is off the books by then no matter what.

 

He is not worth this much but who cares.. just give all our edge rushers money even though the D is mid.

 

Handing out big second-contract (or equivalent veteran) money to guys who haven't consistently dominated can indeed eat into flexibility, especially when the Steelers are in a transitional phase with a tightening cap. Let's break down Khan's moves with the numbers.

Patrick Queen (3-year, $41M deal signed in 2024)
2026 cap hit: ~$17.2M (with $13.3M in new cash). Production has been solid but not elite for a top-dollar ILB—good run support, but few splash plays. His coverage sucks. Entering final year; plenty of trade rumors and talk of letting him walk or restructuring. Cutting post-roster bonus saves $13.3M but leaves dead money


DK Metcalf (4-year, $132M extension after trade, AAV $33M)
2026 cap hit: $31M. He must say as he is too expensive to cut and fights with the fans.

Nick Herbig (just-extended: reports of 4-year $100M with $42M guaranteed. All for a player who has not proven he is durable enough.

 

I don't know for 2027 for Watt and Highsmith but if we look at the tweet in post 16,I think Highsmith will be gone after 2026,unless the decline of Watt is a serious thing

 

The first year won’t kill the cap. Seems like we are head over heels for sacks and QB hits even though overall our D is not that good.

 

We need to know that 25 millions per year in today nfl is not that much when some edge rusher make like 45-50 millions per year

 

Doesn't have to be this year.

The first year cap hit for Herbig will probably be low.

Then trade one of them next year. It would be the last year of AH's deal. And there would be 2 years left for TJ.

Waiting lets us see if Highsmith is our best edge against next year. If that's the case, then moving Watt next year is probably easier because there will be less on his contract. Especially if we did something like restructure a bit first.

So I'd wait unless we can get great compensation in trade.

If we did trade AH (I don't want to do this personally), he'd be a great value for someone...which would probably increase the trade market / compensation. His 2026 cap hit is $20.1MM, but we'd eat the "dead money" part of that (for the next two years @ $5.6mm each year or about $13MM).So a team we'd trade him to would only have him at a cap hit of his salary which is $15.5MM in 2026 and $15.5mm in 2027. He also won't be a "rental" since there are 2 years left on his deal. And even if a team did re-do his contract, those first two years would be baked into any contract extension. So he's going to be a heck of a value if a trade went through.

I like extending Herbig. I do wish that he came in a bit cheaper, but I'm actually surprised that he didn't "bet on himself" to get to the open market next offseason...where he'd probably make more given cap inflation and the importance of the edge position. But this gives him insurance against an injury or down year. I will be interested to see what the structure looks like. that's more important than the length and total value IMO.

ETA: I also wonder if the new DC will get all three of these guys on the field more than the old regime did (and they did do it sometimes).