The holdout ended before it really began.
Nick Herbig, the Steelers' third-year outside linebacker out of Wisconsin, agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract extension on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, according to multiple league sources. The deal includes $42 million fully guaranteed and locks Herbig in as a foundational piece of Pittsburgh's defensive front through the 2030 season.
Herbig had been holding out of mandatory minicamp drills -- not full games, not training camp, but the early-June practice sessions designed to install the basics. The message was clear enough: he wanted to be paid.
And now he is.
The extension, first reported by ESPN and NFL Network on June 2, comes on the heels of a career-best 7.5-sack season in 2025. That was Herbig's sophomore campaign, his first as a full-time rotational player behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. He made the most of it. On a per-snap basis, Herbig generated pressure at a rate that rivaled starting-caliber pass rushers across the league. His explosiveness off the edge, combined with a relentless motor and a compact, powerful frame, made him a nightmare for left tackles in passing situations.
But this contract isn't just a reward for what Herbig has done. It's a bet on what he is about to become.
Herbig is still only 24 years old. At 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, he doesn't have the classic EDGE frame that scouts drool over, but he plays bigger than the measurements. His sack total in 2025 came on just 43 percent of defensive snaps. For context, Watt played 82 percent of snaps in 2025 and notched 11.5 sacks. Highsmith, who logged 72 percent, had 6.0 sacks.
The per-snap production is what earned Herbig this money.
Now, the Steelers face a roster decision that the front office likely anticipated the moment they began negotiating this extension.
Alex Highsmith is entering the final year of his contract in 2026, carrying a cap hit of roughly $14 million, according to Over the Cap. He's been a dependable starter since being drafted in the third round in 2020: consistent pressure, solid against the run, durable. But he has never been a dominant edge rusher. His best season remains 2023, when he posted 7.0 sacks. He's a good player. Herbig, on a per-down basis, has already flashed the kind of disruption the Steelers covet.
The math is brutal. The Steelers are currently sitting on just $4.29 million in available cap space. That number will shift once the Herbig extension is officially processed -- the structure and signing bonus will create some short-term relief -- but the long-term picture is tight. Watt is on a massive deal. Herbig is now on one. The Steelers spent significant resources in the secondary, trading for Jalen Ramsey and signing Asante Samuel Jr. in free agency. They paid Patrick Queen. They gave Aaron Rodgers $40 million guaranteed to come in and push a Super Bowl window open.
Something has to give.
Highsmith is the obvious candidate. He turns 28 in August. He has trade value. The Steelers could move him this summer or at the trade deadline and recoup a mid-round pick, maybe a third or a fourth, while freeing up immediate cap space. They could also let him play out the year and let the compensatory pick formula deliver a 2028 sixth-rounder. But after paying Herbig, the front office cannot justify keeping three high-priced edge rushers when the cap is this tight and other positions -- offensive line, wide receiver depth -- still need attention.
Highsmith has been a pro's pro in Pittsburgh. He never complained about losing snaps to Herbig. He never made waves when the coaching staff rotated him more heavily in 2025. But the NFL is not a loyalty contest. It's a cap spreadsheet in cleats.
Herbig's extension signals that the organization believes its young edge rusher can be the long-term complement to Watt. That means Highsmith's time in Pittsburgh is likely approaching its end.
The move also sends a message to the locker room: the Steelers reward their own. Herbig was a fourth-round pick in 2023. He wasn't a first-round investment. He wasn't a high-profile free agent. He earned this by outworking expectations, by turning rotational snaps into production, by showing up to practice every day and making the offensive tackles miserable.
Mike McCarthy, in his first season as the Steelers head coach, has been vocal about building a culture based on competition and depth. During a press conference last week, he pointed to the defensive line and edge rushers specifically, saying, "You have to have the rushers... the ability to keep him in five, six rushers is important." The "him" in that sentence was T.J. Watt, but the principle applies to the unit as a whole. The Steelers want waves of pass rushers. They want to rotate and keep fresh legs on the field in the fourth quarter.
Herbig's extension makes that vision sustainable.
For Herbig, the money changes everything and nothing. He's still the same player who slipped to the fourth round because scouts worried about his arm length and his ability to hold up against NFL offensive tackles. He's still the same player who showed up to training camp as a rookie and immediately made the veterans take notice. His brother, Nate Herbig, is a guard who spent time with the Steelers in 2024, which means inside linebacker Nick Herbig has been around the organization long enough to understand the weight of this contract.
He'll be expected to produce. He'll be expected to start. He'll be expected to make Highsmith expendable.
That's a lot for a 24-year-old who wasn't even a full-time starter a year ago.
But the Steelers are betting that Herbig is ready. And at $100 million, they need him to be.
The EDGE room in Pittsburgh has been a strength for years, built on Watt's generational talent and the steady, unflashy production of Highsmith. Now it's being reshaped in real time. Watt remains the centerpiece. Herbig is the future. And Highsmith, barring a pay cut or an unexpected restructure, is the odd man out.
Minicamp continues this week. Joey Porter Jr. is holding in, skipping team drills as he seeks his own extension. The secondary is unsettled. The offensive line has questions at right tackle and guard. The quarterback room features Aaron Rodgers, Drew Allar, and Mason Rudolph -- a mix of Hall of Fame pedigree and youth projection.
But the Herbig extension is the biggest story of the week because of what it represents. The Steelers, a team that prides itself on defensive identity, just committed nine figures to a player who two years ago was a rotational afterthought.
That is confidence. That is conviction. And that is a team that believes Nick Herbig is just getting started.
Highsmith is scheduled to address the media later this week. It will be fascinating to hear what he has to say.