As soon as Myles Garrett inked a lucrative four-year, $160 million deal with the Cleveland Browns early in the 2025 offseason, we knew the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to have to fork up for T.J. Watt. At $40 million per season in new average annual value, Garrett became the richest defender in NFL history, and it was only a matter of time before Watt's agent followed suit.
But the latest rumor suggests even a record-setting deal in itself might not be enough to get Watt on board.
The account on X that goes by 'Rickey' reports that the Steelers made an offer to Watt that would make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, but there is still a way to go to get the deal done. Rickey expects Watt and Pittsburgh to eventually come to terms on contract language, but not until we're closer to the start of training camp.
This independent NFL Insider has been hit or miss on past reports, but he predicted that the Steelers would land either Jalen Ramsey or Jaire Alexander before it happened, and they did. A few weeks later, Ramsey joined the team via a blockbuster trade.
If the latest rumor is true, Watt is throwing the ball back in Pittsburgh's court to sweeten the deal.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will inevitably fork up to keep T.J. Watt happy
More than any team in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers pride themselves on keeping their Hall of Fame-level players for the entirety of their NFL careers. The same will happen with Watt, who feels destined to follow in the footsteps of players like Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu by retiring with the Steelers.
But knowing this means that Omar Khan and the front office will eventually need to fork up and even cave to Watt's demands. They can do this the easy way or the hard way.
The last time Watt was due for a contract extension, the talks lingered all summer and Watt missed all of training camp and the preseason only to march into the facility and sign his contract just before Week 1 of the 2021 season. This time around, the Steelers are hoping they can get Watt's participation much earlier in the process.
Pittsburgh's front office made a cluster of win-now moves by adding veteran players like Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, DK Metcalf, and Darius Slay. The last thing they want is for Watt to consider holding out or for their best player to have his focus on his lingering contract status instead of the 2025 season.
This is going to feel like ripping off a band-aid. We all know what has to be done, and the Pittsburgh Steelers need to get it over with quickly so this roster can focus on this one-year window to give it everything they've got in 2025. Let's hope the rumors are right and that T.J. Watt will ink his deal around training camp. That's certainly better than the alternative.