Steelers news: Derek Watt retires from NFL, Russell Wilson, Cameron Johnston

The free-agency frenzy is underway. As the NFL's legal tampering period opened, teams rushed to come to terms on deals with free agents (though these deals cannot be finalized until free agency officially begins on March 13th. After signing Russell Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a quiet day.

Now fans are gearing up for a few long days of constantly refreshing their social media feeds to see what sort of roster activity Pittsburgh could be up to. In the latest Steelers news, another Watt brother has officially retired, and the contract details of two free-agent signings have been released.

Derek Watt announces his retirement from the NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers saw a former player hang up his cleats for good. On March 12th, Derek Watt took to Instagram to make an official retirement announcement.

Watt was known for being the brother of J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt -- two future Hall of Fame players. However, Derek had a respectable career in his own right that shouldn't be overlooked.

Watt was selected in the sixth round by the Chargers where he played his first four seasons as a fullback and core special teams player. From there, Watt joined the Steelers and he played in Pittsburgh from 2020 to 2022.

The veteran didn't find work in the NFL during the 2023 season, and at 31 years old, he has elected to retire. Watt was seldom used on offense, but his work in special teams coverage units did not go unnoticed.

Russell Wilson contract details

We knew that Russell Wilson was going to come cheap and that the market for the 35-year-old quarterback would be small. After playing just two seasons of his five-year, $245 million deal with the Broncos, Denver will pay the veteran quarterback $80 million in guaranteed salary to not be on the team.

This decision could prove to be to the benefit of the Steelers, as Wilson will ink a one-year, $1.2 million deal with Pittsburgh (which is a veteran minimum contract).

Wilson doesn't look like the same Super Bowl-winning quarterback who has earned nine Pro Bowl appearances over the course of his career, but he should be an upgrade over what they had since Ben Roethlisberger.

Steelers sign punter Cameron Johnston

After agreeing to a deal with Russell Wilson roughly twelve hours before the start of the NFL's legal tampering period, Pittsburgh proceeded to make just one roster move on the day that teams were able to agree to terms with free agents. This move was signing veteran punter, Cameron Johnston.

The Australian-born punter has a huge leg and an impressive highlight reel, but it's his uncanny resemblance to comedian Bill Burr that has brought him viral attention in recent years. Johnston is set to sign a three-year, $9 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers and he projects as an instant improvement over Pressley Harvin III (who the Steelers released prior to free agency).