Steelers' Nick Herbig Earns Comparison to Former All-Pro

After signing his four-year, $100 million extension, Nick Herbig is set up to break out even further for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Herbig has never been a full-time starter for the Steelers while playing behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith throughout his entire career, but he's already proven he can thrive in that role.

In fact, Steve Palazzolo of the "Check the Mic" podcast took it a step further and stated that he thinks Herbig's trajectory could mirror that of Shaq Barrett, who played second fiddle to DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller at the beginning of his career with the Denver Broncos before eventually emerging as a two-time Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“There’s a lot of good comps for Herbig of somewhat rotational players,” Palazzolo said. “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.”

Herbig isn't going to switch teams over the next few years like Barrett did, but Palazzolo's comparison was more so aimed at the success each pass rusher had over smaller sample sizes before really coming into their own with a heightened role.

Oct 12, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig (51) reacts as he takes the field against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

What is Herbig's True Ceiling?

While Watt and Highsmith have understandably captured most of the attention amongst Pittsburgh's trio of EDGE rushers since Herbig entered the league as a fourth-round pick in 2023, a real argument could be made that the latter is the best of the bunch right now.

His 7.5 sacks in 2025 trailed Highsmith (9.5) and was ever-so-slightly better than Watt's mark (7.0), but Herbig put up that total in the least amount of snaps amongst the group while also leading the NFL in EDGE pass rush win rate at 25 percent, per ESPN Analytics.

Furthermore, Herbig's 47 pressures ranked No. 30 in the league over the 42nd-most pass rush reps with 353 according to Pro Football Focus, proving just how efficient he was last year.

It's not a guarantee that Herbig will remain as productive with a jump in his snaps moving forward, but that should be the expectation given the extent to which the numbers back him up.

Pittsburgh clearly believes he has every chance in the world to become a No. 1 option off the edge down the line, or it wouldn't have paid him $25 million a year when Watt and Highsmith are already making a combined $58 million per season.

That Pro Bowl and even All-Pro ceiling is there for Herbig, much like it was with Barrett, and it wouldn't come as a surprise at all if he became a superstar for the Steelers.

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