Is T.J. Watt about to get paid? Like really paid? Watt, Pittsburgh’s sack machine, may be on his way to a new contract with lots of commas and zeroes.
Pittsburgh Steelers making room to pay star player?
That’s the most logical way to interpret the Pittsburgh Steelers’ otherwise puzzling decision in recent days to restructure defensive end Stephon Tuitt’s contract to free up another $6 million in cap space. (They did so by converting $7.9 million of Tuitt’s base salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, thereby deferring much of his cap charge to 2022).
This theory certainly makes much more sense than the team using that cap space to bring in a high-priced rental via a trade.
And it would begin the transition to Pittsburgh’s future. It would allow the Steelers to get ahead of the curve as they search for their next quarterback. If this is indeed Ben Roethlisberger’s final year in Pittsburgh, a rookie draft pick will have a far easier introduction into the NFL if he has the Steelers’ suffocating defense propping him up.
Is T.J. Watt’s new contract coming soon?
The sense around the league is Watt’s new deal will come in in the neighborhood of $30 million annually. That would be a massive bump and necessitate some creative accounting. He’s on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, making just $10 million in base salary in 2021.
And while the Steelers have the salary-cap space (roughly $60 million projected for 2022) to franchise Watt, both team and player would surely prefer a long-term deal to get done sooner rather than later.
Watt is conducting a hold-in over his contract situation. This means he’s reported to camp to avoid a daily $50,000 fine but not participating in team drills during practice or the team’s first two preseason games.
Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler kind of gave away Watt’s game when asked earlier this month if Watt is not practicing because he has yet to sign a multi-year extension.
Butler’s response: “That’s none of my business. I hope he signs a contract. When he gets it done, then we’ll talk about that.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin added last week:
“The business is going to run its course. He’s highly conditioned. Strength staff is working with him. He’s getting in good work days. The process is running its course. In the meanwhile, man, I’m focusing on the guys that are working, their level of productivity and what type of days they’ve been having.”
Watt could reset the market for edge defenders
Watt was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year (behind only Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald). He is indeed expected to reset the market for edge defenders. The market’s elite includes the Chargers’ Joey Bosa ($27 million per year) and the Browns’ Myles Garrett ($25 million APY).
But there’s a strong argument to be made that Watt is better than all of them. In four seasons, Watt has 49.5 sacks and 59 tackles for loss. Since 2018, Watt has an absurd 158 quarterback pressures.
As always, the devil is in the details — and those details are guaranteed dollars. Bosa got $78 million fully guaranteed when he signed his five-year extension last August. That was nearly 60% more fully guaranteed money than the Browns gave Garrett when he signed his deal just a few days later.
However, much more than that could present a massive injury risk for the Steelers going forward, even with the cap expected to expand after a pandemic-caused contraction in 2020.
Adam Beasley is the NFL Insider for Pro Football Network. You can read all of Adam’s work here and give him a follow on Twitter @AdamHBeasley.
