This offseason is a very interesting one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ve already gone through a coaching change. Now, the focus shifts to the roster. One of the sneaky important questions they need to answer is what to do with the embarrassment of riches they have at edge rusher. Will they make a move this offseason, trading someone? If so, who?
“If they do decide to trade an edge rusher, and I think it would be Nick Herbig as opposed to trading one of your starters,” Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo said Monday on the North Shore Drive podcast. “Even though there’s been a lot of speculation around T.J. Watt, I think that would be hard to pull off…
If Nick Herbig, who has one year left on his rookie contract, if you could trade him, [the new team] could sign him to a new contract, and then maybe you could get something for him.”
Trading Nick Herbig would likely leave a sour taste in many fans’ mouths. On Monday, Pro Football Focus recapped its top 20 edge defenders from the 2025 season, and Herbig was tied for sixth by PFF’s grades. While he’s never taken many snaps at the NFL level, he’s been a ferocious pass rusher in his limited playing time. And in 2025 he took a massive step forward as a run defender.
Plus, Herbig won’t turn 25 until November. He seems like the kind of player you’d want to build around, not trade. So, why would the Steelers opt to trade Herbig rather than either of their current starters, T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith?
As Fittipaldo said, trading T.J. Watt could be problematic. First, Watt is the most accomplished pass rusher in Steelers history. He has 115 career sacks, 23 more than second place (current teammate DT Cam Heyward). The front office and ownership may not want to move him, keeping him a so-called “one helmet guy.” Mark Kaboly said that the team still has “high belief” in him as a player.
Second, there’s the matter of his contract. Last offseason, the Steelers signed Watt to a three-year, $123 million extension. Watt now counts $42 million against the cap in both 2026 and 2027. What team is going to want to trade for that big of a cap hit for someone who turns 32 in October and is coming off his second-fewest sacks in a season? You’d have to imagine that team would not want to give up a whole lot, and that makes the Steelers much less likely to move Watt.
As for Alex Highsmith, he also was on the PFF list that came out on Monday. He may not be as accomplished as T.J. Watt, but he’s younger (turning 29 in August) and had a better season in 2025. So, it makes sense that the Steelers would want to hold onto him, even though he could get some value back.
Which leaves Nick Herbig. Teams would probably be lining up to get a young pass rusher who has shown an ability to change games in limited snaps. No doubt he’d get the most value for the Steelers in a trade situation.
It just feels like they would be sacrificing the future to addres a short-term problem. Hopefully for the Steelers’ long-term plans, the team and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham find a way to expand Nick Herbig’s usage in 2026.
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