{"id":174579,"date":"2026-04-09T02:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=174579"},"modified":"2026-04-09T02:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:41:13","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-big-move-for-49ers-san-francisco-targets-steelers-nick-herbig-in-bold-trade-proposal-%f0%9f%91%87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=174579","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 BIG MOVE FOR 49ERS: San Francisco Targets Steelers&#8217; Nick Herbig in Bold Trade Proposal \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nick-herbig-pittsburgh-steelers.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nick-herbig-pittsburgh-steelers.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nick-herbig-pittsburgh-steelers.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nick-herbig-pittsburgh-steelers.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"49ers Land Massive Trade Pitch for Steelers' Nick Herbig\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>(Photo by Andy Lyons\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The San Francisco 49ers lacked a pass rush in the 2025 NFL season, so this area of the team needs major improvement this offseason. San Francisco will have Nick Bosa back and traded for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Nonetheless, with the 2026 NFL Draft approaching, the Niners could use the draft to find a pass rusher to bolster their team sack totals for next season. However, there\u2019s also the possibility of going the trade market route. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>In an April 8 article from FOX Sports\u2019 Ralph Vacchiano <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, the columnist and reporter pitches a trade that would see the 49ers send the 2026 second-round pick (58th) and 2027 conditional fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Nick Herbig.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cTheir pass rush was completely punchless last season, with Bryce Huff leading the team with just four sacks,\u201d Vacchiano wrote. \u201cThey are hopeful that both Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams will be healthy and back in their old form next season, but they could use another body in the rotation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cHerbig, 24, is stuck in a rotation behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in Pittsburgh and in the final year of his contract. He had 13 sacks in a limited role over the past two seasons and would be well worth the high pick it would probably cost for the Steelers to swap him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last season for the Steelers, <\/span>Herbig earned an overall PFF defensive grade of 86.7 <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, ranking seventh among 115 qualified edge defenders. Moreover, his pass-rush grade of 87.1 placed him eighth, while his run-defense grade of 71.4 ranked 23rd at the position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As a pass rusher, he generated 47 total pressures, including eight sacks, 26 hurries, and 13 hits. Against the run, he recorded 14 solo tackles and forced two fumbles.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>49ers Insider Gives Latest on Joey Bosa<\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Another pass rusher in the Niners speculation mill is Joey Bosa <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">as<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> a move to the Bay Area would see him play alongside his younger brother. Nonetheless, recently, 49ers general manager John Lynch put cold water on that speculation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI know that would make Mama Bosa happy, but I don\u2019t know if we can afford him,\u201d Lynch said (h\/t\u00a0<\/span>David Lombardi of the SF Standard <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, David Lombardi, who covers the 49ers for the San Francisco Standard, speculates whether the Niners could wait after the draft to see whether they see eye to eye with Bosa on his asking price.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThere is a nonzero chance the 49ers exit the draft without picking up a defensive lineman projected to make the 53\u2011man roster, leaving holes in their rotation,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Lombardi said on April 4 on his YouTube channel <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. \u201cIf that happens, they might turn their attention back to free agency with a different price point in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cRight now, they don\u2019t see eye to eye with Joey Bosa, but after the draft, when signings don\u2019t count against the compensatory formula, the 49ers could potentially reach an agreement with someone like Bosa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Niners Get Compelling Take on <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jadeveon Clowney<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meanwhile, CBS Sports\u2019 Garrett Podell sees the Niners as the top landing spot for Jadeveon Clowney, who spent last season with the\u00a0<\/span>Dallas Cowboys <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe\u00a0<\/span>San Francisco 49ers <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> ranked last in the NFL in team sacks in 2025, and their 1.18 sacks per game now stands as the lowest by a team that made the postseason,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Podell wrote in his article published on April 3 <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cYes, San Francisco gets both 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year edge rusher\u00a0Nick Bosa\u00a0(torn ACL) and 2025 11th overall pick edge rusher\u00a0Mykel Williams\u00a0(torn ACL and torn meniscus) back in 2026\/ Adding a healthy, proven pass rush threat along the edge in Clowney would relieve some of the urgency on those two to rush back from their injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cPlus, Clowney already has plenty of pass-rush chemistry with new 49ers defensive tackle\u00a0Osa Odighizuwa\u00a0after suiting up together in Dallas last season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area &amp; California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty (Photo by Andy Lyons\/Getty Images) The San Francisco 49ers lacked a pass rush in the 2025 NFL season, so this area of the team needs major&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8 BIG MOVE FOR 49ERS: San Francisco Targets Steelers&#039; Nick Herbig in Bold Trade Proposal \ud83d\udc47 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=174579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8 BIG MOVE FOR 49ERS: San Francisco Targets Steelers&#039; 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