Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt just landed a record-setting three-year, $123MM extension, which keeps him under club control through 2028. The contract already looked like a win on paper for Watt, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk passes along a few details highlighting just how far Pittsburgh was willing to go to keep the former Defensive Player of the Year in the fold.
It was previously reported that Watt’s new deal includes $108MM in full guarantees. According to Florio, that figure is comprised of a $40MM signing bonus, a fully-guaranteed 2025 base salary of $4MM, and fully-guaranteed base salaries of $32MM in 2026 and 2027. In other words, Watt secured a whopping three fully-guaranteed seasons of pay, which will obviously make it very difficult for Pittsburgh to move on before the end of the 2027 campaign.
Per OverTheCap.com, Watt will carry a $23.37MM cap hit this season, and that number jumps to $42MM in 2026 and 2027 and tops out at $46.05MM in 2028. From 2026 onward, Watt’s cap charges are projected to account for well over 10% of Pittsburgh’s total cap room, which the club is perhaps willing to stomach since it expects to have a rookie-contract quarterback in the starting lineup as early as Week 1 of the 2026 slate.
Still, if Watt continues to perform at a high level – as his extension plainly anticipates, despite reported misgivings in that regard – it would not be surprising to see the Steelers restructure the deal down the line to create additional cap space. At present, only his 2028 pay, which includes a $15MM roster bonus and a $21.05MM base salary, is non-guaranteed, but the roster bonus does trigger on the third day of the 2028 league year.
The $41MM average annual value of Watt’s extension is a record for non-quarterbacks, as is the $108MM in full guarantees. The same can be said of the early-year cash flow ($76MM within two years, $108MM within three years). The $108MM figure even tops the $100MM in fully-guaranteed money the 49ers ponied up for QB Brock Purdy earlier this year. As compared to fellow premium EDGE talent, Watt’s full guarantees represent 87.8% of his extension value, while Myles Garrett‘s $88.8MM in full guarantees make up just 55.5% of his extension, which is one year longer (h/t TexansCap).
Of course, Watt’s deal will have ramifications beyond his own team. Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson, who has been seeking a new commitment from Cincinnati for several years, is perhaps the most obvious beneficiary, as he is two months younger than Watt and outpaced him by six sacks in 2024. It is difficult to say whether Hendrickson and the Bengals will be able to resolve their long-standing impasse, but he certainly has no reason to shoot for anything less than a $41MM AAV.
And, as older players get paid at that level, the price tags of elite younger players like Micah Parsons (26) and Aidan Hutchinson (25 in August) will rise even higher.