The Pittsburgh Steelers have handed out one contract extension this offseason, making Chris Boswell one of the highest-paid kickers in the league. But they’re far from done on that front. There are still a couple of players they’d like to extend, including an exciting young pass rusher in Nick Herbig.
And he may be a bit complicated to figure out. Mainly because he’s stuck behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith on the depth chart. And each of them are tied to the franchise for at least the next two years. As the Steelers try to navigate things with Herbig, former Steeler James Harrison doesn’t see a world where Herbig makes less than $20 million per year.
“Nick Herbig is not going to sign a contract that is not top dollar. His agent has made that very clear,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “Even if it’s not $40 million a year, it’s still gonna be at least $20 [million].”
EDGE has become a very lucrative position in the NFL. For Herbig, a strong payday could be on the way. He’s heading into the final year of his contract. And while he hasn’t gotten a ton of reps behind Watt and Highsmith, he’s been very effective when on the field. Currently, Over the Cap projects Herbig to be worth around $16 million per year.
But that number certainly could grow, even to the $20 million range Harrison projects. With a new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham, maybe there’s a way the Steelers can get Nick Herbig on the field more. If he can show the same progress he’s made through his first three years, he certainly may be in demand on his next contract.
He won’t have a ton of competition on the market next offseason at his position. And he’d have an argument to be valued alongside guys like George Karlaftis, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe and Travon Walker, all of whom currently make at least $20 million per year.
Harrison wouldn’t let Herbig sign a deal with less than $50 million guaranteed, if he was Herbig’s agent.
“This is where your agent plays the bad guy… For me, I’m not letting him sign nothing that ain’t at least giving him $50 [million] guaranteed in the first two years. Minimum. That’s minimum,” Harrison said. “He continues to play, and play well, that number’s just gonna keep going up.”
$50 million guaranteed is a large number. But as contracts continue to increase in value over the years, guaranteed money can follow a similar path. If the Steelers want to keep Herbig around, it would be interesting to see whether they’d try to pay him something to that level, already having Watt and Highsmith around.
Ultimately, the Steelers would of course love to keep hold of Nick Herbig. But he knows his worth. And to James Harrison, that may amount to a whole lot of money in the near future.
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