The Pittsburgh Steelers and star outside linebacker T.J. Watt have agreed to a three-year extension that will pay Watt $123 million over that span, setting a new high on the edge rusher market.
The details reveal the structure of the deal, however. According to OvertheCap.com, Watt’s deal will essentially act more like a three-year, $108 million deal. Watt landed $108 million guaranteed, and those guarantees run all the way through 2027, which is his age-33 season.
That means in 2026 and 2027, Watt will count as $42 million against the cap. The Steelers also do not have much room to move there with the shorter contract length. The guaranteed money virtually locks Watt into Pittsburgh through the 2027 season unless he chooses to retire before that.
Watt’s 2025 cap hit will climb to around $23 million after the extension. Either way, this gives Watt a lot of security to know he will be with the Steelers for the next three seasons.
If Pittsburgh wanted to cut Watt after the 2027 season, they could do that with just $10 million in dead cap hitting the books. Unlike the Myles Garrett contract, the Steelers did not use any void years when they inked Watt to his new deal.
Watt, 30, had 11.5 sacks a season ago and dealt with multiple injuries that cooled him off down the stretch. Before the injuries, Watt was the odds-on favorite to win the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Award, which would have been his second in a storied career.
Drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Watt tied the single-season sack record in 2021 with 22.5 sacks. Over his Steelers career, he has accumulated 108 career sacks, surpassing the team’s previous record. Now, this contract makes it likely Watt will retire a Steeler, something that the superstar notably wanted to do at the end of the season.Unlike
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