The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Should Alex Highsmith have bet on himself and played out his contract to try to hit the open market?
The question is a moot one by now, given that the Steelers locked up OLB Alex Highsmith for the next five years with a $68 million contract extension. But now that we have the contract details on hand, it’s fair to examine it and consider the possibilities.
On a base level, Highsmith’s new extension averages $17 million per season, which ties him for the top 10 among edge rushers. That’s pretty good for a team’s second-best pass rusher, but what kind of deal might he have been able to get with another good season if he were to hit the open market?
The pass rush position is always going to pay well. Just consider the contract Bud Dupree got a couple of years ago, in a year in which the cap shrunk, while he was coming off an ACL tear. There’s no question Highsmith could have gotten more on the open market.
That is assuming that he continued to play at a high level and were allowed to hit the open market. The Steelers would almost assuredly have put the franchise tag on him in 2024 if necessary. He would have been the only player due to be a free agent next year who would have even remotely been a tag candidate, so that’s an easy call. So basically he would have had to have at least two strong years before he might have been able to hit the open market.
But would it have been worth it? He would have made good money under the tag in 2024, but very little in 2023, and he would have had to make that up. But his deal with the Steelers was very typical of the organization with low guarantees. Highsmith’s guarantees are paltry compared to the rest of the top of the market, even in terms of injury protection.
It’s not uncommon for players to ‘bet on themselves’, counting on playing at a high level in order to maximize their market value when finally given the opportunity. It doesn’t always work out, but I see no reason to believe Highsmith wouldn’t believe highly in himself.
At the same time, he also understands that value goes beyond the monetary, and he wanted to be in Pittsburgh, with these teammates, with this coaching staff, in this system. That holds a lot of value for him. This question strictly considers only the financial aspect of his decision to sign a long-term deal now rather than try to wait it out to hit the market.
