Why would you discover and develop a burgeoning star pass rusher only to lose the prime years of his career?
You wouldn’t, or at least you shouldn’t, if you’re the Steelers.
They need to keep Nick Herbig, and that might mean trading T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith.
Watt is 31 on a bloated contract.
Highsmith turns 29 at training camp and is on a pretty big contract himself. Highsmith and Watt have two of the three biggest cap hits on the team for this season, according to overthecap.com, at a combined $62 million.
Herbig is just 24, yet he led the Steelers in quarterback pressures (29) and hurries (11), according to profootballreference.com. He also tied for the team lead in quarterback knockdowns (10) and finished second to Highsmith in sacks with 7 1/2 despite playing just 60% of the snaps.
Here’s the problem: Herbig’s contract expires after this season. Can the Steelers lock him into a team friendly deal this summer? I suppose there’s a chance he’ll be willing to sacrifice his body at a discounted rate and play third fiddle to the other two — but only if he’s getting really bad advice.
Herbig has a highly valued talent. Teams covet pass rushers. He can strike it big on the open market after the season, especially at his age, and he has to know the Steelers likely cannot afford three big-ticket pass rushers.
Could they slap a transition tag on him, as former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch suggested the other day? Possibly. But that could still be somewhat expensive for a year and get complicated in the form of offer sheets from other teams (and no draft pick compensation if Herbig leaves).
Some believe trading Herbig is the best option here.
It’s actually the worst option.
Herbig is an absolute menace. It would figure that he’s only going to get better. His alleged issues against the run are overblown. He’s ready to be a starter.
I’m not sure what Watt would fetch at this point, but I’d like to find out. The Steelers made a mistake signing him to that $41-million-per-year deal. He responded with a meager seven sacks.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d bet Watt still has some great football left in him — and I’d bet other teams believe that, too. Could he still fetch a first-round pick? Possibly. But you’re trading low on him whereas you’d be trading, well, high on Highsmith, who played some of the best football of his career late last season.
It had been a while.
A 14.5-sack season in 2022 prompted the Steelers to sign Highsmith to a four-year, $68 million deal before the next season. He registered just 13 sacks over the next two seasons and still hasn’t gotten back to double digits. He’s also been injury plagued (though Herbig’s had some injury issues of his own).
People laughed when ESPN’s Peter Schrager predicted the Steelers would draft Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker. On the surface, that seems nuts. They already have four edge rushers, if you include Jack Sawyer.
But if you analyze the situation, and you think the Steelers could trade, say, Highsmith — who is only signed for two more years — then you go into next season with Watt and Herbig as your starters and Parker playing the Herbig role as Watt’s understudy.
That makes a little more sense.
What doesn’t make sense is discovering a player in the fourth round, developing him and then letting him walk before you get the best years of his career.
The priority here is Herbig.
Or at least it should be.