T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett will forever be linked when comparing the great pass rushers of this era. Drafted in the same year and consistently atop the sack charts for the better part of the last decade, they are now competing off the field with their record-breaking contracts.
Garrett and the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to the punch with a mega deal worth $40 million per season. ESPN insider Adam Schefter would be surprised if Watt’s deal ends up topping that.
“I don’t know that he’s gonna get more than Myles Garrett,” Schefter said via The Pat McAfee Show this afternoon. “I think T.J. Watt’s gonna get a nice, strong, healthy deal and I think at some point in time the two sides will be able to figure out a way to get this done. He’s seen all the money that’s gone around, and he wants to make sure that he gets rewarded in the appropriate way.”
If I was Watt’s agent and making the case for my client to reset the market for edge rushers, I would absolutely be bringing up the fact that he is ahead of Myles Garrett in virtually every meaningful statistical category. So if he’s looking to get rewarded in the appropriate way, as Schefter suggests, that very well could mean a deal over Garrett’s $40 million.
Watt skipped out on attending the NFL Honors event two years ago when he was very clearly deserving of another Defensive Player of the Year nod only for it to be given to Garrett. And Garrett made sure to let the world know that he thinks he is the better player after one game of outproducing Watt last year in the Browns’ win over the Steelers.
These are the kind of things that might motivate Watt to want to edge him out on his record-breaking contract. And it’s not as if his agent is lacking leverage if that’s what Watt wants.
“T.J. Watt’s gonna get a really, really strong deal, but I don’t know exactly where it’s gonna come in,” Schefter said. “I think I’d be surprised if it was higher than Myles Garrett.”
J.J. Watt warned the Steelers earlier this offseason that dragging their feet would cost them, and that is exactly what has happened. Things could get even trickier if Micah Parsons signs before Watt and resets the market once again. Parsons has age on his side, but Watt has been the league’s best pass rusher for years with plenty of gas left in the tank at 30 years old.
Could Watt value the guaranteed money more? Would he be willing to settle on slightly more guarantees with slightly less average base salary per year? These are the details that are likely being hashed out behind closed doors.
Watt held out of mandatory minicamp, which was an escalation of his negotiation tactics from last time around in 2021. They have a little over a month until training camp as the next pressure point in the negotiation. Both sides are reportedly motivated, but this is likely to be the biggest contract in team history. And coming at a time when the team is on the cusp of a rebuild. It needs to be done right for Watt and for the team.
Part of me thinks Watt very badly wants a deal slightly over Garrett’s $40 million per season. But if the Steelers are unwilling to play ball, where will that leave things by the start of the season?
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