With just under a week before training camp report date, the Pittsburgh Steelers and GM Omar Khan moved swiftly Thursday, reportedly locking up star pass rusher T.J. Watt on a new long-term deal, making him the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL.
Now, the months-long story about Watt, his contract, and his potential future in Pittsburgh is over. It’s all football now.
For former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum, who appeared on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, the Steelers now have no excuses entering the season with Watt set to sign a new deal and all distractions eliminated.
“Look, he’s a core guy, a Hall of Famer. Deserves to get paid and to me, he just put a ribbon on their offseason,” Tannenbaum said of the Watt signing, according to audio via ESPN Radio. “That started with a very un-Steeler-like sort of offseason trade for DK Metcalf, $33 million a year, second-round pick, and then obviously the big news with Aaron Rodgers and then adding Jonnu Smith, Jalen Ramsey.
“So to me, like this is no excuses. They are all in and he’s a great player and he deserves to get paid.”
Watt is very deserving of his new deal, even with some of the concerns that have gained some publicity since the deal was agreed to. Yes, Watt is entering his age-31 season. Yes, he struggled late in 2024 with back-to-back no-show performances against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens to close the year.
But he still led the NFL in forced fumbles and finished with 11.5 sacks. He’s still a player opposing offenses must scheme against, too. He’s a matchup nightmare for teams, and he will be paid as such again.
Getting Watt under contract before training camp ends all the chatter about a possible holdout or hold-in, stops the talk about a possible trade and really puts the focus back on football and the Steelers trying to compete this season coming off an aggressive offseason.
The Steelers are on the older side with the additions, but they landed proven, capable players who plugged major holes. Getting Watt under contract ensures that all the pieces are in place now to try and compete.
For Tannenbaum, getting the deal done before camp and also getting it done before other pass rushers get new deals was good business on the part of Khan and the Steelers.
“That’s what you try to do from a front office perspective, is make sure like the proverbial hay’s in the barn and let’s just go on the field and let it rip,” Tannenbaum said. “Give them a lot of credit with all these other guys out there from Trey Hendrickson, Micah Parsons, Aiden Hutchinson. We know the market’s only gonna keep going [up], so I thought it was smart for them to go first.”
It was smart for the Steelers to get something done, and to do it before training camp starts. After months of talk about how the Steelers were seemingly disrespecting Watt with the delay in talks, and reports just last week that they weren’t close on a new contract, the Steelers and Watt operated in silence and hammered out a deal.
Now, he’s a Steeler through the 2028 season and can continue to add to his Hall of Fame resume in the Black and Gold.
