The Steelers’ fourth-round selection of OLB Jack Sawyer feels like a throwback, not just for the player but also for the approach. It feels more like how the team addressed the edge rusher position in the past rather than in more recent years. Even though they have two established starters, they have continued to reinforce the unit.
Almost everybody agrees that T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are among the top pass-rushing combinations in the NFL. In 2023, the Steelers drafted Nick Herbig to add to that mix, and he probably exceeded their expectations. Despite talk of a three-headed monster, the Steelers still added to the room with Jack Sawyer.
Sawyer offers the Steelers a bit of a different look at outside linebacker, a bigger frame who should hold up well when setting the edge. Nick Herbig does his best in that phase, but is sometimes an overachiever. While he might lack some of Herbig’s explosiveness, Sawyer is a prospect with no real holes. And he is a window into the potential future.
“They’re also an organization that’s not afraid to draft for value and not necessarily positional need”, Brooke Pryor said on the Bishop and Friends podcast. “Adding Jack Sawyer, to me, almost represents [the Steelers are] not drafting for now. You’re starting to draft for the future”.
“Why not get Jack Sawyer in here, who’s already such a good player, and have him learn from T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith and have him learn alongside Nick Herbig while T.J. Watt is, at the prime, if not, starting to crest that hill of his career”, she added. “And now you’ve firmly established this pipeline”.
Of course, the question is how far that pipeline stretches. T.J. Watt is entering his final season, but Pittsburgh will likely sign him to an extension. Alex Highsmith has three years left on his contract; however, they also owe him no more guaranteed money. If they could massage the dead cap hit, they could, in theory, move on. But Nick Herbig or Jack Sawyer—or the combination—would have to prove to the Steelers that’s feasible.
Over his first two seasons, Herbig has 8.5 sacks and six forced fumbles. He has proven that he is capable of providing splash plays, something the Steelers also valued in Jack Sawyer’s tape. Of course, they won’t have to worry about Sawyer’s contract until at least 2028. But Herbig will be going into his contract year next season.
Perhaps the Steelers envision Herbig and Sawyer as a package deal, retaining a strong trio after one of Watt or Highsmith departs within the next few years, for whatever reason that might happen. Or perhaps they’re not really planning that far ahead. The Steelers saw a valuable playmaker in the fourth round in Sawyer, so they pulled the trigger. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.
