For all the offseason drama, this was inevitable.
If the Steelers were really going all-in on 2025 — signing Aaron Rodgers, trading for DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey and more — how could they not take care of T.J. Watt? After all, he’s as responsible as any current player for Pittsburgh’s sustained success.
The Steelers made Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history on Thursday, with a three-year deal that will average $41 million. That’s more per year than the Browns gave Myles Garrett and even more than the Bengals gave receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Watt deserves it.
The 30-year-old edge rusher has led the NFL in sacks in three of his past four healthy seasons: 15 in 2020, 22.5 in 2021 (tying the league record) and 19 in 2023. That puts him at 108 for his career, 6.5 shy of his brother J.J., a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and future Pro Football Hall of Famer. T.J. has been named a Pro Bowler in seven straight seasons, already two more than J.J., whose career was limited by nagging injuries.
By his sacks, you could count last season as a down year for Watt — “only” 11.5 — but he finished second in tackles for losses with 19, and more importantly, he led the NFL with six forced fumbles. Pittsburgh has been a good-not-great team with frustrating consistency, good enough to have a .500 record or better in all 16 of Mike Tomlin’s seasons as head coach, but losing its past five playoff games.
What the Steelers did best last year, and what will make life much easier for Rodgers at age 41, is force turnovers as well as any defense in the NFL. They tied for the league lead with 33 takeaways, also tying with 16 forced fumbles, trailing only Buffalo with the NFL’s second-best turnover margin at plus-16. That’s an advantage Rodgers hasn’t had lately, with his Packers and Jets teams a net-zero in turnover margin in his last two healthy seasons.
Watt has already forced 33 fumbles in his career, the fourth-most ever in a player’s first eight seasons, trailing only Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and the late Derrick Thomas. He already has one NFL Defensive Player of the Year award on his résumé, from 2021, but has a real shot at another, trying to keep up with younger elite edge rushers like Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson and Dallas’ Micah Parsons.
So much of this offseason’s attention for the Steelers has been on newcomers — first Metcalf as an elite receiver, then Rodgers as the team continues to try to find any kind of playmaking passer in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. Most recently, the team acquired Ramsey, a decorated All-Pro corner to upgrade a crucial position on defense.
But it’s only fair that Pittsburgh wrote the biggest check to one of their own, a star who’s played his entire career with the Steelers but has yet to know the joy of a playoff win.
If there’s one specific area where Watt would probably like to surpass his brother’s storied career, it’s in enjoying a real, sustained playoff run. J.J. never won more than a single playoff game in any season, and just three in his career, and T.J. has a chance to pull that off as part of a talented, veteran Steelers team.
Success this season for Pittsburgh will not be about simply extending Tomlin’s streak of avoiding a losing record, but in giving Rodgers a proper sendoff. He hasn’t had more than one playoff win in any season since his lone Super Bowl in 2010, and this is likely his final chance to show his post-Packers years were more than just a footnote.
As a final act of summer to head into training camp with resolution and momentum, signing Watt was a no-brainer for the Steelers, a huge contract in an economic echelon once reserved for the league’s best quarterbacks. You don’t make $41 million a year to win awards or finish with a winning record yet again. You earn that in January, and even February, a month Pittsburgh hasn’t seen in 15 years.
The goal for the Steelers is to get closer to that this year, and Watt will be a huge part of any playoff success they can find.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
recommended
Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
