The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Nick Herbig in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, and he’s spent his career backing up T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. However, that didn’t stop him from earning a big contract extension from the team. Still, some people are questioning why the Steelers would give a backup so much money. Analyst Steve Palazzolo isn’t too concerned about the deal, though, comparing Herbig to a former NFL edge rusher who once had almost 20 sacks in a season.
“There’s a lot of good comps for Herbig of somewhat rotational players,” Palazzolo said Thursday on his Check the Mic podcast. “The other one that comes to mind for me is Shaq Barrett. It took him until year six to become a full-time player.
“With Denver, it was DeMarcus Ware, Von Miller, and then Shaq Barrett. He was the No. 3 edge there, rotational player, we always loved him, small-sample-size effectiveness, and he goes to Tampa and he was a really good full-time player. I think there are enough comps historically that you’re not concerned about the small sample size with Herbig.”
Barrett faced an even greater uphill battle to becoming a productive NFL starter. He joined the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2014 when Miller was in his prime and established as one of the league’s top pass rushers. Meanwhile, Ware had just signed with the team, coming off a fantastic stint with the Dallas Cowboys. There wasn’t a lot of room for Barrett to play early in Denver.
However, that didn’t stop him from continuing to work on his craft. While Barrett didn’t play at all as a rookie, he appeared in every game in 2015, including six starts due to Ware missing time with an injury. He posted 5.5 sacks, flashing his potential.
Still, Barrett didn’t really get an opportunity as a full-time starter until he left the Broncos for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. He instantly became one of the league’s top pass rushers, too, posting 19.5 sacks in his first year with the Bucs. While he didn’t hit that same high again, he was still solid for several years after that, racking up 45 total sacks in his six seasons in Tampa Bay.
Barrett was 27 during his first season as a full-time starter, and Herbig doesn’t turn 25 until the middle of this season. Therefore, there’s a chance that he could be as impactful as Barrett once was.
Does that mean Herbig’s going to get nearly 20 sacks in a season? Not necessarily, but he’s been effective enough as a backup to believe that he’ll be just fine as a starter. The deal he just signed might look like a lot, but it could turn out to be a steal.
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