Steelers A to Z: Nate Herbig running as 1st-team center, has starter’s salary … but will it last?

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

C/G NATE HERBIG

Experience/age: 6th season, turns 26 on July 10

Contract status: $5.46 million cap hit in 2024, after which scheduled for unrestricted free agency

The past: When Herbig signed with the Steelers in March 2023, it was his third team in three seasons. Including his first season in Pittsburgh, he’s started 30 games over five NFL seasons.

That suggests the profile of the proverbial so-called “journeyman.” But, in 2024, Herbig isn’t taking practice reps like a backup. And he’s not earning backup money, either.

Only 10 players on the Steelers’ roster have a current 2024 salary-cap hit more than Herbig. Only 11 are scheduled to make more cash than him this season ($4 million). That would imply that the commonly held belief that Herbig was acquired by the Steelers as nothing more than mere depth isn’t entirely accurate. Maybe when Omar Khan or Mike Tomlin said earlier this spring that Herbig was a legitimate option as the Steelers’ starting center that they actually meant it.

Last season, Herbig started two games at right guard in place of injured James Daniels. The year before, he was the starting right guard for the New York Jets. Herbig started half of the Philadelphia Eagles’ games over the two seasons (some at each guard) before that. Despite his undrafted status and that he’s bounced around the league some, Herbig has a starter’s résumé.

A forgotten option no more, center Nate Herbig is stating his case to be the Steelers' man in the middlehttps://t.co/HfOgZ6oaWN

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) June 2, 2024

2024 outlook: Make no mistake, the Steelers spent the No. 51 overall pick on Zach Frazier with the intention he will be their starting center. Will that come as soon as in 2024, though? Not if Herbig has anything to say about it.

Though his center experience at the pro level consists of 49 regular-season snaps (no starts), Herbig is starter-capable and was the Steelers’ best option on the roster after the release of two-year starting center Mason Cole. But if everyone is being honest, the referendum on who starts at center Week 1 is more about Frazier than it is Herbig. If Frazier shows himself ready and as proficient as the Steelers thought he was when they drafted him, he will start. If Frazier can’t do that, the organization is more comfortable with Herbig as its starting center than probably a lot of its fans are.