{"id":918047,"date":"2026-06-13T20:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T20:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/918047\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T20:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T20:03:15","slug":"nick-herbig-reveals-moment-that-changed-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/918047\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Herbig Reveals Moment That Changed His Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 4, 2026. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

During a recent appearance on Cam Heyward\u2019s Not Just Football<\/a>, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig opened up on a career-altering moment. It came in Week 14 of his rookie season against the New England Patriots. It was the first time that Herbig was thrown into the fire as a starter for the majority of the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had to learn that the hard way, because I thought I was like, I\u2019ll just stretch and I\u2019m ready to go,\u201d Herbig told Heyward. \u201cBut there\u2019s so much more outside of the facility you have to do to prepare yourself for when you do get the opportunity, because you don\u2019t know when it\u2019s gonna come.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI end up playing [70] snaps, and I don\u2019t think I was ready for that. I always look back at that moment and remind myself, \u2018Don\u2019t ever let that happen again. The playing time referenced includes special teams, which largely consist of sprinting. Danny Smith, he wasn\u2019t taking me off that. So I had to be ready for all of that, and I wasn\u2019t. So I\u2019d look at that moment and go back to that sometimes and be like, \u2018I don\u2019t want that to happen again.’\u201d <\/p>\n

\"SteelersPittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig before a agme against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, 2024. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Herbig, 24, has displayed exactly why he demanded such a payday over the past three years, racking up 79 tackles, 16 sacks, nine forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, three passes defensed and one interception all while working in a rotation with fellow outside linebackers Watt and Highsmith.<\/p>\n

His production has also climbed each year. After recording three sacks as a rookie, Herbig posted 5.5 sacks in 2024 before setting a new career high with 7.5 sacks in 2025. He has not only become an important rotational contributor but has also positioned himself as a cornerstone of the franchise\u2019s future at outside linebacker.<\/p>\n

Steelers legend James Harrison<\/a> thinks it was a great move by general manager Omar Khan<\/a> to get Herbig signed long-term.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, that\u2019s not a lot \u2026 So this right here is a great, great move,\u201d Harrison said of Herbig\u2019s contract extension on the latest episode of the Deebo & Joe<\/a> podcast. \u201cGreat deal. Omar is cooking, Mike McCarthy is cooking. And as he said in his quote, he said, \u2018You can never have enough good players, especially in the outside linebacker position.\u2019 They\u2019re all playmakers. He said, \u2018I\u2019m thrilled to death we have them all.\u2019 They are keeping them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers also gave tight end Darnell Washington<\/a> a contract extension last week. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. <\/a>and defensive lineman Keeanu Benton<\/a> are next in line from the 2023 draft class to get extensions. Porter is expected is to cash in on a hefty payday.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Cam Heyward<\/a> Nick Herbig<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 4,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[344,7,6,6313,520,57,2360,426,2395],"class_list":["post-918047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-cam-heyward","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nick-herbig","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116744592175451579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}