Latest news with #TJ Watt
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Did the Steelers overpay T.J. Watt with $123 million extension
Yahoo Sports' Matt Harmon and Charles McDonald debate the 7-time Pro Bowl defensive ends recent contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hear the full conversation on 'Football 301' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript T.J. Watt gets a big bag from the Pittsburgh Steelers. They gave T.J. Watt a 3-year contract extension worth $123 million. The deal, uh, includes $108 million in guaranteed money. He is now the highest paid non-quarterback in the league. Watt's coming off, like, kind of a weird end to last season. What was your, uh, did you, did this one catch you by surprise at all when you saw this job? Uh, I like, yes and no, kind of, because was T.J. Watt ever going to play anywhere else but Pittsburgh? Like, there's just no shot. He's like, he's going to die in yellow and black. It would just feel weird if he played anywhere else. So I'm not surprised that they, they extended him. I guess the amount of money was a little surprising because I thought they were gonna play hardball a little bit, like, hey, you're 31 years old. You know, usually, usually don't see NFL teams like pay for past performance like this. Because I, I mean, the chances that T.J. Watt plays at like Myles Garrett or Micah Parsons level for the next two years, like where he's guaranteed to be on the roster, seems kind of slim to me, but I also kind of don't hate the idea of like just keeping your franchise legends around as long as they're still productive players. I do think that that matters. It's got, you know, intangible value that's kind of hard to to to nail down, but it just it would just suck to not have T.J. Watt in his Steelers uniform after all that he's done for that franchise and how good he's been. And if you can kind of become one of like the name brand defenders for that franchise, like you're on track to be in the Hall of Fame. So obviously it's a guy you want to keep around, but for him to become like the highest paid non-quarterback and to get all that guaranteed money, I mean, great, that's great for T.J. I was just a little surprised that they ended up honing that up, but, um, you know, the Steelers operate a little bit differently. I, I just thought that they were going to say, hey, that stuff was in the past, and we got to pay you for what we think you're gonna be in the future. I don't think he's gonna be the best edge rusher in football, but he's still got the back for it, so what do I know? Close
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
ESPN unimpressed with Steelers roster changes this offseason in rankings
2025 has been an unprecedented offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh took a hyper-aggressive approach to roster building, including some huge free-agent additions and two blockbuster trades. This is all in an attempt to finally get the Steelers over the hump and actually win a playoff game. ESPN ranked every NFL roster and despite all the moves, they seem underwhelmed by the Steelers. They have Pittsburgh ranked at No. 19 overall. The identified edge rusher as the roster's biggest strength. While we agree that the foursome of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer are probably the best in the AFC, this group (minus Sawyer) hasn't been great the last three seasons. Pittsburgh only had 40 sacks last season and hasn't had more than 47 since 2021. As far as the biggest weakness, ESPN went with offensive tackle. This is absolutely a fair point. Broderick Jones has moved to left tackle after taking a step back in his second season and new right tackle Troy Fautanu is coming off of a serious knee injury and is a completely unknown. This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers rank in bottom half of the league in ESPN roster rankings
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Steelers had little choice but to pay franchise icon T.J. Watt a record contract extension
Once Myles Garrett got $40 million per season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were on notice. T.J. Watt had every reason to argue he was the equal to Garrett. Both are former NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners, and both are going to walk into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They're equals in many ways. And suddenly, Garrett was making a lot more money. Watt wasn't going to stand for that, and we found out over the summer that he wanted a big raise. Watt got paid. On Thursday he signed a three-year, $123 million extension which, not too surprisingly, was $1 million more per season than Garrett, which was the highest ever for a defensive player. Watt is now the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Of Watt's new money, a whopping $108 million is guaranteed according to ESPN. It's deserved. It was the rare case of a player having all the leverage. What were the Steelers going to do, not pay one of their greatest players? T.J. Watt has been a superstar Garrett and Watt went about getting their raises in different ways. Garrett said he wanted to be traded, then magically wanted to be with the Browns for the long haul after he got a huge contract. Watt made waves too, but didn't go as far as putting out a statement expressing his desire to leave. There was some expression of discontent through media circles by Watt, and that was enough to get the Steelers to act. The Steelers were backed into a corner. Watt is their best player, and even for a franchise that has had multiple legends pass through, one of the greatest players in team history. He has done everything a team would want from its superstar. The Steelers' only hope was that Watt would stay quiet and keep working on the four-year, $112 million extension he signed after his rookie deal was up. That was not realistic when Garrett's deal came in at $12 million more per season. Teams cut players all the time before their contracts are finished, and Watt wanted his deal ripped up before it was finished. It was a lot of money when he signed it, and he outplayed it. He has been a Pro Bowler in seven of eight seasons and a four-time first-team All-Pro. He was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 when he tied the NFL single-season sack record of 22.5. He has led the NFL in sacks three times. The Steelers wouldn't and couldn't argue his resume. It was just a matter of getting a massive deal done before the acrimony started to get louder. Pittsburgh is a smart organization and it wasn't going to let it get that far. Steelers hold onto their biggest star The Cincinnati Bengals might want to take note. The Steelers' division rival hasn't gotten a new deal done with last year's sack leader, Trey Hendrickson, and are facing a holdout from first-round pick Shemar Stewart over language they'd like to include in rookie deals going forward over guaranteed money. Some organizations are better at handling contract disputes. Unlike the Garrett or Hendrickson drama, there was little question the Steelers would get Watt's contract in line with the other top defensive players in the NFL. The only real question was how long the extension would be and if he'd top Garrett. Watt will turn 31 years old in October, and his contract extension will take him into his mid-30s. Watt is good enough that he could be effective into his late 30s, and perhaps like Von Miller he'll start bouncing around other teams when he's on the final years of his career. But for the most part, the Steelers ensured that one of the most popular players in team history would spend all of his prime seasons in Pittsburgh. Not that the team had any choice. Watt getting a hefty pay raise was the only way the story was going to end up.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Steelers and T.J. Watt agree on a contract making the linebacker the NFL's highest paid defensive player
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Steelers and T.J. Watt agree on a contract making the linebacker the NFL's highest paid defensive player.
