The Pittsburgh Steelers made T.J. Watt the highest-paid defender in NFL history with a contract extension in 2021. That didn’t last long, but they could be set to do it again in short order. There would be good reason for the Steelers to want to rush it, as it could end up cheaper. And indeed, there may be something behind that, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Asked yesterday if there was any possibility the Steelers would sign T.J. Watt to an extension before the start of the new league year—which is in about two weeks—Dulac wrote, “There’s a good chance”. If there is a good chance of that happening, then they must already be talking about it.
Though he finished as a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Watt had a slightly “down” year. By Watt’s standards, of course, a down year is a career year for most. During the 2024 season, the Steelers star only managed 11.5 sacks, leading the NFL with six forced fumbles. But he only batted four passes and didn’t intercept one. He matched his 19 tackles for loss from a year ago but had nine fewer quarterback hits.
In reality, the Steelers’ negotiations have no business taking very long. Now, the first time they signed T.J. Watt to an extension, the conversations dragged out extensively. As Watt tells the story, he had to intervene, marching into the office and insisting on signing. But the thing is, the bugaboo in those negotiations is no longer a bugaboo.
The reason T.J. Watt saw protracted extension negotiations is because he was fighting decades of Steelers precedent. And he forced them to break their precedent, or rather, to set a new one. Now, for very special players, they are willing to offer guarantees beyond the first year of an extension. Previously, they reserved that only for franchise quarterbacks, but they have since given second-year guarantees to Minkah Fitzpatrick as well.
Given that the Steelers are now willing to give Watt guarantees in the second and third year of a deal, the rest of the extension negotiations should be fairly routine, despite speculation to the contrary. The only real obstacle I could envision would be if Watt actually wants to wait to see where the market comes in.
Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons are also seeking new contracts this offseason—Garrett looking for a new team, too. But I don’t think Watt is looking to maximize his dollar value on this extension. In fact, I think he took less in dollar amount last time to get the additional guarantees.
Still, to get something done before the start of the new league year would certainly be a change. Maybe the Steelers want to do that for the reasons we’ve already discussed. And another reason—it likely would quash any further speculation that they would entertain trade offers. Because once they hand T.J. Watt a pile of guaranteed money on a new extension, they screw themselves there.
