Since taking over as General Manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers in May 2022, Omar Khan has had quite a busy tenure while overseeing the roster.
That includes a handful of big-time extensions he’s handed out to key players on both sides of the football including the likes of star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and standout wide receiver Diontae Johnson last summer.
Those big-time contracts continued two weeks ago when Khan and fourth-year outside linebacker Alex Highsmith agreed to a four-year, $68 million extension, keeping an ascending pass rusher in the Black and Gold for a long time.
That move has Khan “fired up.”
Speaking with reporters Thursday following the first walkthrough session of training camp in Latrobe, Khan spoke highly of Highsmith — the player and person — stating he’s happy to have a deal done with him.
“I’m really fired up that we got that deal done,” Khan stated to reporters, according to video via the Steelers YouTube page. “Alex is not only an ascending player, but I’m confident that him and his wife, Alyssa, they’re gonna be very impactful in this community. Just great people. They’re Steelers.”
Highsmith’s extension came as no surprise, considering he was coming off of a career-high 14.5 sacks in 2022, pairing with T.J. Watt to form one of the best pass rush duos in the league over the last few seasons. Together, the duo has 65.5 sacks in three seasons.
Concerns about Highsmith as a product of Watt are seemingly unfounded, especially after last season. When Watt was in the lineup last season, Highsmith was a game-wrecker, recording 10.5 of his 14.5 sacks on the season, including four of his NFL-leading five forced fumbles. Having a true dominant player like Watt on the other side of the defense certainly helped Highsmith out, in terms of attention paid to the other side of the defense.
Without Watt in the lineup, Highsmith recorded just 4.0 sacks in the seven games Watt missed. That’s not a bad number overall and would have put him right around 10.0 sacks on the season if Watt missed the entire year. Based on his per-game production without Watt, Highsmith would have had a 10-plus sack season, 12-plus tackles for loss and quarterback hits, and 51 total pressures. Those are solid numbers overall.
Highsmith lacked some splash play at times without Watt and he could have played a bit better in certain matchups, like the losses to the Bills and Dolphins in which Highsmith combined for just two tackles in those games.
But there’s no denying how good Highsmith is at this point. He has a deep pass-rush arsenal and is yet another example of the Steelers scouting and coaching staff hitting on a mid-round pick and keeping him around long-term. That’s huge for a team that primarily builds through the draft. How he attacks the offseason entering Year Four coming off a breakout season will be very interesting to watch. Based on the way he’s progressed in his first two seasons as a starter opposite Watt, the sky is the limit for the Charlotte product.
Khan is certainly fired up that the Steelers were able to get a deal done with Highsmith keeping him in Pittsburgh opposite Watt. So too is the fan base. Highsmith exemplifies that blue collar player that is beloved in the Steel City. He’s a self-made player that went from a zero-star recruit who walked on at Charlotte, turning into one of the better pass rushers in the NFL, earning every penny of his deal.
Not only will he be impactful on the field moving forward, he’ll do so off the field in the community as well. He’s a Steeler through and through, and a solid building block for the franchise moving forward.
