After over a month of speculation regarding T.J. Watt’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers, news broke on Thursday that they had agreed to a three-year, $123M extension with $108M guaranteed that makes the pass-rusher the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Both parties seemed eager to finalize a deal before Pittsburgh players are due to report to training camp
on July 23. Thus, some understandably questioned why the Steelers didn’t meet Watt’s asking price before he skipped mandatory minicamp practices in June.
According to team insider Mike DeFabo of The Athletic, “there were a number of challenges to get the contract done” before Pittsburgh’s first training camp session of the summer. As had been assumed for weeks, the four-year, $160M extension that included $123.5M guaranteed that Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns received earlier this offseason impacted talks between the Steelers and Watt.
“Considering Watt and Garrett are about the same age — Watt will turn 31 in October, while Garrett turns 30 in December — that contract served as the anchor point for negotiations,” DeFabo wrote.
A Wednesday report stated that Watt may have initially requested a five-year deal with “four of those guaranteed.” It’s unclear if he ever came close to receiving such an offer from the Steelers.
“The Steelers are often reluctant to guarantee money beyond the first year of a contract,” DeFabo added. “They broke that precedent for the first time in a major way the last time Watt was a free agent, handing him three years in guarantees. This time around, they gave him the $108M in guaranteed money, which includes the first two years of the three-year extension.”
Both Watt and Pittsburgh can claim victory. Watt agreed to a historic contract, while a win-now Steelers team that signed 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers to be its starting quarterback in June will have its most important defensive player practicing at the start of training camp.
Watt likely will be the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, only until the Dallas Cowboys pay defensive star Micah Parsons.
