Many observers expected Nate Herbig to resign from his job as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting center sometime late in the preseason, but few could have predicted that it would happen under such unfortunate circumstances.
Herbig was placed on the injured list on Tuesday, likely ending his season before it began. Herbig, a six-year NFL veteran with a $4 million salary in 2024, had been practicing with the first team throughout the summer and in addition to the Steelers’ season opener.
But late in practice on the final day of training camp at Saint Vincent College last week, Herbig suffered a shoulder injury that, barring unforeseen circumstances, will prevent him from playing in 2024.
This clears the way for rookie second-round pick Zach Frazier to start the season opener. The only other player on the roster with significant experience as a center is Ryan McCollum. McCollum has not played in a regular-season NFL game since 2021 and spent all of last season on the Steelers’ practice squad.
Frazier, who played center for West Virginia for four years, started in the Steelers’ final preseason game last Saturday. The Steelers released their center for the past two seasons, Mason Cole, in February.
Also on Tuesday, the Steelers released veteran cornerback Anthony Averett. Averett, who has played six NFL seasons and was a former starter for the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders, missed all of last season due to injury and was signed by the Steelers in May after a tryout at their rookie minicamp.
The 29-year-old Averett began training camp on the second team of defense, but was passed over for outside cornerbacks by Cory Trice and Darius Rush.
As part of this, the Steelers signed inside linebacker Kyahva Tezino and defensive lineman Marcus Haynes on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Haynes is joining his fourth NFL organization since signing with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion in 2023. He most recently spent six days with the Cleveland Browns earlier this month.
Tezino (6-0, 235) has no NFL regular season experience. He was the leading tackler for the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers in 2022 and 2023. He was part of the San Francisco 49ers’ preseason roster last year and was the leading tackler for the UFL champion Birmingham Stallions last spring.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 after covering Penn State football for two seasons. A native of Western Pennsylvania, he joined the Trib in 2012 after covering Pittsburgh sports for other media outlets for a decade. He can be reached at [email protected].
