Is the Steelers 24-Year-Old Edge Rusher Potentially on His Way Out of Pittsburgh?
As free agency approaches on March 11th, teams around the league have been involved in trades and discussions, as highly sought-after players are gaining more attention. One player, whose name has been circling in trade rumors and mock trades, is Steelers edge rusher Nick Herbig. Herbig is 24 years old and is coming off his best year with the Steelers. The former fourth-round draft pick from Wisconsin recorded 30 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, seven and a half sacks, one interception, which went for a 41-yard return, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery, which was scooped up for a touchdown. Herbig’s seven and a half sacks were good for second on the team, behind edge rusher Alex Highsmith, who had nine and a half. As star pass rusher T.J. Watt enters his 10th year with the Steelers, at 31 years old, Herbig appears to be the future of this franchise. However, Watt signed a three-year $123 million contract extension with Pittsburgh in July of 2025, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, making $41 million a year. This came just two years after Highsmith signed a four-year, $68 million contract extension in July of 2023. The question is not whether Pittsburgh wants to keep Herbig; it’s whether they can pay him to stay.
While there has been some buzz around the league of Pittsburgh trading Alex Highsmith, due to Herbig’s rise to stardom, Steelers’ insider Ray Fittipaldo believes Herbig is a more likely trade target due to Watt and Highsmith being locked in as starters. Fittipaldo says, “If they do decide to trade an edge rusher, I think it would be Nick Herbig, as opposed to trading one of your starters.” This led to many interesting mock trades, including one from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who proposed a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, sending Herbig to the city of brotherly love in exchange for backup quarterback Tanner McKee, stating it is a “scratch my back, I scratch yours” situation. This proposal was met with immediate backlash from Steelers fans, who see the potential of Herbig and believe it would be a waste to trade him away for a serviceable backup quarterback, especially since Mason Rudolph has done a perfectly fine job as that. Steelers general manager Omar Khan wants to keep Herbig around, stating that “He wants to play more. I think we’d all like to have Nick on the field more. He’s obviously someone that we’d like to have around for a long time.” Many believe that Pittsburgh will try to sign Herbig to a long-term extension before his rookie contract expires before the end of next season, but again, that will come down to how much the Steelers are actually able to pay him.
One mock trade that has been floating around is sending Herbig to the New York Jets. After a recent trade with the Tennessee Titans, where the Jets sent edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II to them in exchange for nose tackle T'Vondre Sweat, there is a belief that if the Steelers were to trade Herbig out of Pittsburgh, New York would be one of the first teams to pounce on it. A recently proposed trade would send Herbig and a 2026 third-round draft pick to the Jets, while Pittsburgh would receive quarterback Justin Fields, a 2026 second-round draft pick, and a 2027 third-round draft pick. While this is a good trade on paper, Fields’ time in Pittsburgh has come and gone, while Herbig’s future continues to look bright. This trade would highly benefit the Jets, as the Steelers would be left with Watt, Highsmith, and sophomore edge rusher Jack Sawyer, who had a very solid rookie year but is still unproven. Many questions are still unanswered, but the Steelers would be smart to keep Herbig under contract for as long as possible. With T.J. Watt having a cap hit of $42 million in 2026 and Highsmith having a cap hit of $20.1 million in 2026, they sit at the highest and third-highest cap hits on the team, leading to a very uncertain future in Pittsburgh for Nick Herbig.
