Steelers Applauded for Landing Walk-On Turned ‘Secret Superstar’

Getty Steelers EDGE Alex Highsmith.

Very few NFL players can lay claim to being a virtual unknown before entering the league and finding success once they arrive. But Alex Highsmith can. A third-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2020 NFL draft, the outside linebacker is now one of the highest-paid at his position — all after being a walk-on at UNC Charlotte.

In his NFL’s All-Underrated Team: One Secret Superstar for All 32 Teams, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar tabbed Highsmith to represent the Black and Gold.

Highsmith’s “killer spin move” was highlighted among the accolades. “(He looks) at times like one of the league’s better and more multi-faceted edge defenders. Highsmith can bring a fearsome bull-rush to any tackle, but he’s just as adept at jumping multiple gaps inside to disrupt, and as Carolina’s Ickey Ekwonu discovered in Week 15, Highsmith has quite the killer spin move.”

“With Watt, Highsmith and the recently signed Markus Golden (who almost made this year’s underrated list right here), the Steelers have as formidable an edge trio as you’ll find in the NFL,” Farrar wrote in the story, published in June.

Part of Highsmith’s grit and determination comes from the mentality that drove him to go from college walk-on to one of the NFL’s best pass rushers.

“That’s something I’ll always have,” he said in a July 24 press conference. “The walk-on mentality is going to stick with me forever. Being back in college and getting there in 2015 with no offers, zero stars, not even going to camp my freshman year. I wanted to outwork everybody and be the best I could be. I still carry that mindset with me every day because there are always people going to work to be better than you.”

Alex Highsmith Cashes In Big on Early Success With Steelers

After a double whammy in the 2022 offseason with contracts for Minkah Fitzpatrick and Diontae Johnson, general manager Omar Khan had it relatively easy in 2023. Only one high-profile player needed negotiating with, and that was done July 19, when the Steelers signed Highsmith to a five-year contract worth $70.951 million.

That’s a ton of cash on the surface, but it ends up as a team-friendly deal in the long run. According to figures from Over The Cap, the contract’s $16.208 million in signing bonuses are spread out over the life of the contract. The total base salary for five seasons is $54.743 million. Its annual value ($17 million) places Highsmith in the top 10 of the NFL’s highest-paid pass rushers, and its overall value at No. 13.

The new contract counts only $1.5 million against the cap this year and allows Pittsburgh time to monitor Highsmith’s development before the structured deal offers somewhat of an out in 2026. As Steelers Wire’s Curt Popejoy noted, that timing is the season after T.J. Watt’s current contract expires.

The contract comes on the heels of a career-best season for Highsmith, who finished with 14.5 sacks and tied for first (Philadelphia Eagles‘ Haason Reddick) with five forced fumbles.

He knows there’s always room for improvement, as most humble athletes do. “I know my best ball is in front of me,” he said. “Even last year, I feel like I could have played way better. I look forward to continuing to improve. I want to let everyone know I’m here to work and get better.”

Highsmith’s goals for the upcoming season are simple: more. “More sacks, more caused fumbles, more havoc in general. Just playing with better details. Going back and watching my film, there are so many things I could have done better. Watching my different rushes, I could have finished with so many more sacks last year. This offseason, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger and faster.”

And the timing of it all couldn’t be more perfect. The Steelers open training camp on Thursday, July 27, and preseason kickoff is three weeks away when they head to the Sunshine State to take on the Tom Brady-less Tampa Bay Buccaneers.