Steelers agree to 5-year deal with outside linebacker Alex Highsmith

Alex Highsmith wanted to get a contract done with the Pittsburgh Steelers before the team reported to training camp.

He is getting his wish.

A week before the Steelers head to Saint Vincent College, Highsmith and the organization agreed to a five-year contract. The deal includes $68 million as part of a four-year extension.

Highsmith was scheduled to earn a $2.743 million base salary as part of the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. According to ESPN, the new contract includes $27.7 million in guarantees and $38 million over the 2024-25 seasons.

“This means everything,” Highsmith told Steelers.com after signing the contract. “I know I am a Pittsburgh Steeler through and through, and just to be a part of this amazing organization for four more years means the world to me, to my wife, to my whole family. This is where I want to be.”

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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) July 19, 2023

The Steelers entered the week about $13.7 million under the salary cap, according to the NFL players’ association website.

Highsmith was the Steelers’ top priority to get under contract before he hit free agency after his fourth NFL season. Asked in June at minicamp whether he wanted to get a contract completed before the start of training camp, Highsmith responded, “That would be awesome. We’ll see what happens. I’m confident with the way things are going.”

It is the second year in a row that general manager Omar Khan has signed one of the team’s top defensive players to a long-term deal before training camp. Last year, Minkah Fitzpatrick became the NFL’s highest-paid free safety.

Highsmith finished sixth in the NFL with 14.5 sacks last season. Eight of those sacks came in the second half after T.J. Watt, the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, returned from a torn pectoral injury.

Coach Mike Tomlin referred to Highsmith in the outside linebacker pairing as an “elite Robin,” referring to Batman’s sidekick. “We like to challenge him in that way. He’s growing. He’s making a name for himself in this thing. He seeks perfection.”

Highsmith was the team’s third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Charlotte. He started 33 games the past two seasons after moving into the starting lineup full time after the departure of Bud Dupree. He had six sacks in 2021 before enjoying his best season last year when he also had 12 tackles for loss and a career-high 20 quarterback hits.

Training camp historically has been the time when the Steelers negotiated contracts with players entering the final year of their deals. This year, with Highsmith in the fold, the team has no pressing negotiations for the rest of the summer. The only starters scheduled to hit free agency in March are cornerback Levi Wallace, who will be challenged for his job by rookie Joey Porter Jr., and nose tackle Montravius Adams, who played just 26% of the defensive snaps last year despite starting nine of 17 games.