Exit Meeting: OLB Nick Herbig
Experience: 3 Years
Already a quality player, Nick Herbig’s biggest question this offseason is whether he is willing to commit to the Steelers. Still stuck behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, he is ticketed for a graduated rotational role yet again. Even his (now former) coaches believe he would be a starter on many teams.
Surely, Nick Herbig believes that of himself, too, and he will be a free agent in 2027. That is, unless the Steelers get him to sign an extension before then, which I’m sure they would love. But the incentive is minimal, beyond the injury risks, for a player in his position to do so.
A 2023 fourth-round draft pick, Nick Herbig has been productive relative to his playing time. In 1,216 defensive snaps, he has 16 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, 9 forced fumbles, and 1 interception. Last year, he also added passes defensed to his arsenal, though at least one of them should have been another interception.
Viewed as undersized with shorter arms coming out of the draft, Herbig has proven adaptive. He has found ways to mitigate his potential physical shortcomings, building an enviable arsenal of pass-rush moves and using his speed and quick twitch to neutralize the size advantage of today’s offensive tackles.
Herbig has been a diligent student of Watt and Highsmith—and sometimes even a teacher. His more veteran peers fully respect his professionalism, his craft, and his knowledge. And his humility belies the tenacity with which he plays.
While there have been some diminishing returns regarding his production relative to increased playing time, Nick Herbig continues to deliver. Playing a career-high 610 snaps last season, he matched that with 7.5 sacks. He also added another 3 forced fumbles and picked off his first pass, and returned a fumble recovery for his first career touchdown, to boot.
But if Herbig can earn a starting job with a starter’s salary by 2027, why would he sign a contract extension with the Steelers in 2026? Unless that contract reflects a starter’s pay, anyway. And he would want a clear plan that informally guarantees his transition into a starting role. Short of trading or releasing one of the starters, though, I don’t see how they can swing that.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves licking their wounds after yetanother early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, but with major change coming. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we willgo down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? The resignation of Mike Tomlin makes those questions much more difficult to answer, but much more important. We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
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