Watt's of Money: It's time for TJ to come through

For those Pittsburgh Steelers fans sweating over the possibility of a trade sending linebacker T.J. Watt packing or that he may hold out of training camp waiting on a contract extension, you can now breathe easily. Watt has received the money he was looking for and then some. So much so he is now the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. 

What Watt has signed on for is a cool $123 million over three years. This equates to $41 million per season for the next three years. Watt turns 31 on October 11 so in football terms he is relatively young. What the stud linebacker needs to do in the 2025 season is prove that his performance last year was just a one-off as far as the numbers he put up. 

Many Steelers fans will remember last year’s playoff outing of the Steelers by the Baltimore Ravens and how T.J. Watt performed. In the 28-14 Pittsburgh loss, the Steelers defense allowed 464 yards, 299 of those from rush attempts. In the game Watt made zero tackles. With the new extension Watt and head coach Mike Tomlin have one goal in mind…win a playoff game. 

In fact, while Tomlin has experience playoff victories even a Super Bowl, he hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. Watt? He’s never experienced the satisfaction of winning a playoff game. He’s been to four since 2018 and has yet to be on the winning side. The Steelers lost to the Jaguars in 2018 then Cleveland in 2021. Another loss to Kansas City in 2022 and then last year’s fiasco. All these playoff losses came in the first round of the postseason. In all four games, T.J. Watt had just eight tackles and six sacks. Along with that came five quarterback hits.

Then there is last season’s stats. Watt led the league in sacks in three of the last five seasons with 22 ½ as his total in 2021. His 2022 season was cut short due to injury and he played in just 10 games and registered only 5 ½ sacks. A bounce back season came in 2023 with 19 sacks only to get to opposing quarterbacks just 11 ½ times in 2024 while playing in every game of the season. There was not one interception by Watt last season and his tackle totals dropped by just a bit going from 68 combined in 2023 to 61 last year. Solo tackled decreased from 48 to 40. 

Perhaps the most glaring fact about T.J. Watt that relates to the Pittsburgh defense is that when he has missed games due to injury or otherwise, there have been 11 such games and the Steelers won just one of those. A 1-10 record makes it obvious that with Watt on the field, Pittsburgh wins games. In fact, the record with Watt playing on defense is 79-40-2. 

Even without T.J. Watt this defense taking the field in 2025 has some real talent. However, with Watt playing he seems to be the inspiration that makes the defense go. My opinion is that not just Nick Herbig but last year’s rookie sensation Payton Wilson and now rookie Jack Sawyer resemble the style that has made T.J. Watt one of the best, if not the best defensive players in the NFL. 

The bottom line? By signing such a rich contract, the pressure is on T.J. Watt to perform at a high level in 2025, and he joins Mike Tomlin on the hot seat not to just make the postseason but to win a playoff game. While we know Watt is going to be in Black and Gold for at least another three years, there is a buzz that this could be Tomlin’s last season if Pittsburgh fails to win a playoff game.