On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the signing of OLB Alex Highsmith to a four-year contract extension, one reportedly worth $68 million. This extension locks Highsmith in with Pittsburgh through the 2027 season.
The signing is notable for several reasons. First, it shows a priority by Pittsburgh to keep its homegrown talent in-house, not allowing Highsmith, a third-round pick in 2020, to walk after becoming a Pro Bowl-caliber player last season to the tune of 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles.
Second, it shows that Pittsburgh is fully committed to keeping the dynamic OLB duo of Highsmith and T.J. Watt together for the foreseeable future. Pittsburgh made Watt the highest-paid defensive player in football at the time of his contract extension, locking him into a four-year, $112 million extension with an average yearly value of over $28 million and a total guarantee of $80 million, according to OverTheCap. This mega-contract locked Watt in through the 2025 season, rewarding arguably the best defensive player in football with a truckload of money.
After signing Watt to a massive extension, many wondered if the Steelers would choose to drop more money on the OLB position by extending Highsmith or let him walk and draft a top prospect at EDGE to replace him at a fraction of the cost given their huge financial commitment to Watt. GM Omar Khan has said numerous times that Pittsburgh was committed to keeping Highsmith around for a long time and that the Steelers expected to get a deal done. He stuck true to his word, giving Highsmith an extension with a reported money average yearly value of $17 million.
That’s a lot of money wrapped up in the outside linebacker position, but for Pittsburgh, it’s worth it. Watt and Highsmith are arguably two of Pittsburgh’s top four players on the defensive side of the football and possibly the best pass rushing duo in the league when both are healthy. The outside linebacker position is what makes the Steelers defense go and given the heavy emphasis of winning with the passing game in the NFL today, having multiple edge rushers who can hunt the quarterback effectively is a necessity on defense.
Ultimately, Pittsburgh rewarded Highsmith, who was a first-class professional during the negotiation process with a lucrative contract extension, keeping him opposite Watt on the line of scrimmage for at least the next three seasons. With Watt fully healthy heading into 2023 and Highsmith looking to take yet another step forward heading into his fourth season, Pittsburgh’s version of Batman and Robin looks primed to terrorize opposing QBs in 2023 and beyond.
