STEELERS EXTEND T.J. WATT
News broke earlier this afternoon that the Steelers and T.J. Watt agreed to a three-year contract extension that includes $108M guaranteed, tying him to the team through the 2028 season. Woosah Steelers Nation.
I’ll be honest with yinz, there was never a doubt in my mind on this one, trade rumors and all. Trading T.J. or forcing him to play without an extension, effectively pushing him out the door, would’ve done irreparable damage to the Steelers front office in my humble opinion. I recall being upset that we “wasted” a first-round pick on some douche from Wisconsin once upon a time. How little ball I knew. 1x DPOY (probably should be 3), NFL Record holder for sacks in a single season with 22.5, NFL record for most seasons as sack king with 3, only player to be sack king 2 years in a row, 7x pro bowler, 4x first-team all-pro…shall I continue? The point is, no GM wants to be on the receiving end of the backlash that comes with letting a guy like that go, and even though there is a pretty significant amount of risk associated with this deal, we’re still talking about T.J. freakin’ Watt here. This guy puts seasons on his back, and if the Steelers are opening up a Championship window right now like I think they are, you better have a T.J. Watt locked up under contract to be a leader for this defense. So, while I never doubted a deal would get done, that didn’t slow down the might of my fist pump earlier when I got the Adam Schefter notification.
While I suppose it’s not set in stone, this move probably solidifies Mr. Watt as a one-helmet guy, which is just freakin’ awesome. Personally, I can’t think of another Steeler in the history of the team that doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring that deserves one more than T.J. Watt; maybe Cam Heyward? I’d love to send those two legends off into the sunset with rings; what a story that would be…
I firmly stand by everything I’ve said to this point, and Mr. Watt deserves every dollar, but it is riiiiiiiiiiiisky. I love the guy and would take a bullet for him, but he is primarily a speed rusher turning 31 this October. He shared a picture on Instagram earlier today looking absolutely JACKED, leading to folks insinuating that he’s looking to play a little stronger this year and moving forward, perhaps to prolong his career. That extra strength could behoove Mike Tomlin to move Watt around the formation a little more; something they did with some success at the end of last season, and have said they plan to do more of. When that acceleration starts to fail you with age, strength ages gracefully if you’ve got it. That’s why Cam Heyward hasn’t skipped a beat at 36, but I digress.
11.5 sacks is a damn good year for most pass rushers, but I bet if you asked T.J. Watt if he was satisfied with that in 2024, his answer would be resounding, and perhaps profanity-laden. To put it bluntly, teams knew where he’d be and they chipped him into oblivion. Of course, that’s always been the case and he has always overcome it, plus, he still found countless other ways to impact the game as he does. If you’re fan-enough to find your way to this platform and click on this post, then I’m confident you know what I’m talking about. And even then, he still had 11.5 sacks. On moving him around the formation: you can’t chip him into oblivion if you don’t know where he’s going to be. The stars could be aligning for an all-time year for Mr. Watt who just got 108 million new reasons to be motivated. Onto Canton.
Follow me on twitter/x: @jay_newm
