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Steelers ‘Assured’ To Get Double-Digit Sacks From Watt All through New Contract, Beat Author Believes


T.J. Watt’s past performances put him in the position to get the NFL’s highest-ever payday for a non-quarterback, but the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn’t have paid him that money if they didn’t see it continuing into the future. They have tied themselves to Watt through at least 2027 when the guarantees end, but the contract technically doesn’t end until 2028 with a roster bonus early in the offseason before his final contract year.

Watt’s two sacks over his final six games in 2024 raised concerns about finally starting to slow down his pace, but the Steelers clearly disagree based on how they paid him.

“They’re betting on him to perform,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo said via 93.7 The Fan’s Pomp and Joe Show on Friday. “Let’s take out the torn pec year. Every other year, except for his rookie year, he’s in double-digit sacks…So if he is not injured, I think the Steelers are guaranteed to get double-digit sacks out of him for the remainder of this contract. And I think if he’s right, you’re probably talking 15, 16 a year based on what he’s done in the past.”

If we take a slightly more conservative estimate and Watt averages 13 sacks per season for the next four years, he would finish this contract with 160 sacks, tied with Kevin Greene for the fourth-most sacks in league history and third most if you are only counting official statistics post-1982. That number feels doable, but guaranteeing that type of production through his age-34 season is a strong take.

To put things into perspective, James Harrison only had three double-digit sack years in his career, albeit in a different era of football.

Offensive coordinators seemed to crack the code on how to take Watt out of the game last year. The Steelers and Watt will need to adapt and move him around a bit more to keep offenses on their toes. Watt was chipped more than any other defender last year by a good margin, and that strategy effectively limited his impact.

If Alex Highsmith had been healthy all season and was wreaking havoc on offenses opposite Watt, would they have been able to focus on Watt as much? That is one of the questions that will hopefully be answered in 2025 with an upgraded defensive front.

According to Sam Acho, The OL Masterminds summit this year had an entire seminar on how to stop Watt. That shows you how highly the league thinks of him, but nobody will be taken off guard by him. He will be getting everybody’s best effort even as he starts to lose a step with age.

The Steelers paid Watt like a player who will be pushing for Defensive Player of the Year honors in each of the next few seasons. But can he live up to the impossibly high expectations set by a record-breaking contract?

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