Nick Herbig’s $100 million contract extension is a healthy chunk of change, but the reported guarantee numbers rarely tell the whole story. Mike Garafolo initially reported $42 million guaranteed for the four-year extension. The full contract details are now disclosed via Over The Cap.
Herbig’s signing bonus of $19.676 million and his 2026 salary of $1.324 million are fully guaranteed at signing for a grand total of $21 million fully guaranteed.
Herbig’s base salary remains low for 2026 due to the signing bonus acting as his 2026 cash flow, which also keeps his cap number down at just $5,427,431. That cap number increases significantly after Year 1 for the duration of the new four years on the extension.
In 2027, Herbig’s base salary jumps up to the highest mark of his deal at $21 million. Combined with his prorated signing bonus over the life of the contract, that gives him a 2027 cap number of $25,235,200.
Starting in 2028, Herbig has roster bonuses in the final three years of his deal that kick in on the third day of each new league year in March. Those numbers are $7 million in 2028 and $6 million each in 2029 and 2030. If he is off the roster before those dates, Pittsburgh would not owe him the roster bonus.
With the roster bonuses included, Herbig’s base salary of $11 million, roster bonus of $7 million and prorated signing bonus combine to create his 2028 cap number of $22,235,200—the exact same figure as 2027. Those three figures don’t exactly add up to the cap number because OTC notes an annual workout bonus included in his contract. That would infer up to $300,000 in workout bonuses.
It’s a similar structure in 2029, except the roster bonus is $1 million smaller and the base salary is $1 million (and then some) larger to compensate. That $12,574,000 base salary in 2029 combines with the other numbers for a slightly larger cap hit of $22,809,200 in the penultimate season of his extension.
For the fourth and final year of the extension in 2030, his base salary jumps up significantly to $17,900,000 with another $6 million roster bonus for the largest cap hit of the deal at $28,135,200. If things go well during this contract term, that 2030 cap number can often be lowered with the presence of a new contract extension and a new signing bonus to spread out over the life of a second extension.
The Steelers can find quite a bit of cap savings (and not that much dead money) toward the end of his deal if they decide to cut (or trade) him due to a lack of guarantees beyond the first year. It’s a strong all-in total of $103,842,231 over five years for Herbig, but he would have to be on the roster all five years to see all that money from Pittsburgh.
Recommended for you