Nick Herbig was only in his second NFL season when the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys on October 6, 2024. He had a solid rookie season, playing all 17 games, which is why he had an important role in his second season, especially in the game against the Cowboys.

Now the Steelers’ defensive unit has some legends like T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward. Coming into the game against the Cowboys, Watt had 99 sacks. He just needed one sack to become the second fastest in NFL history to get to 100 sacks. Watt achieved it in the first quarter of the game itself, as he sacked Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. However, there is a twist in the tale as Herbig did not think the veteran linebacker had the sack. The 24-year-old explained what had happened during the game on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward.

“He probably doesn’t watch your show because he’s not a real supporter,” said Nick Herbig on Not Just Football with Cam Heyward. “But if he does watch this, I hope he doesn’t get mad because he’s going to have to remember me forever because his 100th sack against the Cowboys was my sack. They gave it to him. I didn’t even get half.”

In Week 5 of the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys were 3rd and 6 with just a few seconds left for the first quarter’s conclusion. Quarterback Dak Prescott took a few steps back to snap the ball. But just as he was about to do so, Watt and Herbig sacked him from either side.

Herbig came from the front and Watt from behind on the possession. From the clips, it looked like the former reached a fraction of a second earlier than the veteran. He was even seen celebrating the sack. But to his surprise, he later found out that the sack was given to the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year.

According to the laws of the game, in the event that two defensive players sack a QB, both players are awarded 0.5 sacks to their individual record.

This is why Watt received credit for the sack, marking his 100th NFL sack. He became the second-fastest player behind Hall of Famer Reggie White to record 100 sacks in 109 games. Besides, he also became the third player ever to record 100 sacks while being less than 30.

While Herbig claims that he did not receive any sack points, the official record says otherwise. Pro Football Reference has credited Herbig with half a sack, while Watt finished the game with 1.5 sacks. Even the official site of the Steelers said that it was half a sack.

Herbig worked hard to get to Prescott first on the possession. He even happened to push veteran Heyward, who was unintentionally blocking the pass for him to move forward.

Despite the historic night for Watt, the Steelers fell short of a win. They had the game in the palm of their hands until the last minute. However, the Cowboys’ QB threw a touchdown pass to Jason Tolbert with just 20 seconds remaining to help the Cowboys take a 20-17 win.

Although Herbig was unable to get the entire sack to himself on that occasion, he has done a lot more to get more sacks under his belt as his career has progressed. His brilliance with the Steelers has helped him earn a lucrative extension with the franchise.

Nick Herbig has become a $100 million linebacker

The Pittsburgh Steelers already had two linebackers with massive contracts. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are under $123 million and $68 million contracts, respectively. And now, the franchise offered a $100 million contract extension to Nick Herbig. He still had a year left on his contract, but the Steelers were not willing to wait until the end of the season for that.

They picked Herbig during the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Initially, he was a backup to Watt and Highsmith, but has been constantly improving over the years. To date, he has recorded 79 tackles (23 tackles for loss), 32 quarterback hits, and 16 sacks in 45 games (11 starts). Last season, he recorded 7.5 sacks, his highest to date.

He was exceptional in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, when he made four quarterback hits and two sacks. But there is a specific game that made even the head coach, Mike McCarthy, recognise Herbig’s potential.

“Playing against Nick, he got my attention. We were worried about the matchup in pass protection, but he gave us issues in the run game, too,” McCarthy said in an interview with Brian Batko of Steelers.com.

It was the same game that Herbig complained about, not getting a sack. At that time, McCarthy was the Cowboys’ head coach, and he watched from the sidelines as Herbig was a constant threat to the offense. The linebacker took 41 defensive snaps and recorded two tackles (one solo), one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, a fumble recovery, and a half-sack.

With the head coach trying to build a culture entering his first season, Herbig has all the goods needed to be a top player, which is why having a player like him was always going to be crucial. Having learnt from the likes of Watt and Heyward, he could take over the mantle from them and become a mainstay in the Steelers’ defense.