Steelers reinforce offensive line, add Herbig on two-year deal

The NFL free agency period is rolling along, and the Steelers have reinforced their offensive line.

Guard Nate Herbig has agreed to a two-year, $8-million contract with the Steelers. The deal comes with $4 million guaranteed.

Herbig, 24, played the 2022 season with the Jets and finished with the sixth-highest run block win rate among all guards, according to ESPN Analytics. Herbig, an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2019, also has ties to assistant general manager Andy Weidl as he played his first three years in the NFL with the Eagles.

Herbig has played the majority of his career at right guard, and played all 706 snaps with the Jets at that position. James Daniels is coming off a solid season at right guard, so it's safe to assume that Herbig is brought in more to compete with Kevin Dotson on the left side, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract.

At 6-4 and 335 pounds, Herbig is a large body for the interior of the offensive line. He's earned the nickname, "Nasty Nate," which describes the demeanor and physicality he plays with, especially in run blocking. The Jets run a zone-based run scheme, which meshes with the Steelers' tendency to run mostly inside zone schemes in Matt Canada's offense. 

As we witnessed last season, with the time it took the offensive line to mesh while learning the newly implemented zone schemes, bringing in someone who has familiarity with executed zone blocking assignments should help his transition.

Herbig reacted to the news on social media, confirming his excitement over coming to Pittsburgh.