Steelers' TJ Watt Details Future Plans After Another Lost Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had yet another failure of a season. It ended with another late season collapse and an embarrassing one-and-done trip to the playoffs. This time, they had a 10-3 record and complete control of the division to start the season, only to blow it entirely and fall to the six seed entering the postseason. Usually, a divisional matchup in the playoffs would be favorable, but Pittsburgh is not your normal team. No one looked like they wanted to be there according to the broadcasters on Saturday night. The Baltimore Ravens ran for almost 300 yards in the Wild Card matchup and beat Pittsburgh 28-14.

TJ Watt has seemingly been the most frustrated one on the team. The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since the season before he was drafted. He has spoken nonstop about his desire to win in the postseason for once. With that combined with the team's constant failures, concerns were starting to rise about his future in Pittsburgh, especially since he had one year left on his current contract. 

After the season ended, Watt spoke with the media and immediately squashed those concerns, saying that he wants to keep wearing the black and gold. 

T.J. Watt has one more year left on his contract and does not want to leave the Steelers: “I want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. I want to be part of the solution. I’ve put so much into this. I want to help Cam Heyward get to where we want to get. I don’t want to leave this place."

— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) January 13, 2025

Even for Watt's struggles in the latter part of the season, it is still evident that the Steelers need him. There are many flaws that they have defensively that he single-handedly covers up when he's productive. If they can get him back on the right track and figure out how to get him out of this slump, he can continue competing for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.

No defensive player gets schemed to stop quite like Watt. Throughout the season, he was the most chipped player in the league, meaning that opposing offenses would use a tight end or a running back to knock him off his route before he could engage with the offensive tackle.

That slowed him down a lot, and he couldn't get to the quarterback nearly as fast as normal. After a full season of getting chipped, he and the Steelers need to find a way to adjust to get him back in the backfield. If they fail, his numbers will only continue to go down, and who knows if they would even re-sign him?

Steelers' Contract Situation With Watt

Watt currently has one year left on his deal, with his total cap hit being just over $30 million. Omar Khan needs to be careful about this extension though, as the star edge rusher will be 31 in 2025. Another long-term high-dollar contract could be problematic for them in the long run, especially if they can't figure out how to get past the chips. 

During previous contract negotiations, Watt was able to successfully break the Steelers' tradition of not giving out guaranteed money past the early stages of the deal. With him seemingly on the decline and on the wrong side of 30, who knows if he can get that kind of superstar treatment again?

A fair deal for both sides would be something like a three-year deal worth about $24 million per year for a total of $72 million. $36 million of that would be guaranteed, and it would also contain plenty of incentives, as well as an injury guarantee. It's less than what he is making now, but it might be tough to justify another almost-guaranteed four-year contract.

What do you think about Watt wanting to stick around, as well as his looming extension? Let us know in the comments.

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