Cameron Heyward has received plenty of attention this offseason with his Steelers future in doubt. A fellow mainstay along the team’s defensive front is T.J. Watt, who is under contract for two more years. 
[RELATED: J.J. Watt Open To 2024 Steelers Deal]
The latter is playing out the four-year, $112MM extension he inked in 2021. That pact has proven to be a sound investment for Pittsburgh to date; Watt earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in his first season after inking the deal by matching Michael Strahan‘s single-season sack record. He has earned a pair of Pro Bowl invites and another first-team All-Pro nod since then. Entering his age-30 campaign, though, Watt is unsure of how much longer his career will last.
“I don’t know if I want to play forever, but who knows? It is too hard to say,” the former first-rounder said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (subscription required). “J.J. [Watt] always said he didn’t want to play super long, then things happened and he ended up playing longer. I won’t know until that moment comes. I feel great right now, so I am kind of just living in the moment.”
The younger Watt brother was limited to 10 games in 2022 due to a torn pectoral muscle. He rebounded well last year, though, leading the league with 19 sacks. His career total in that regard sits at 96.5, and it will be expected to continue climbing as long as Watt remains healthy. The Wisconsin alum’s base salaries over the next two years are not guaranteed, and another year of strong production would help his leverage for a second monster extension depending on his long-term outlook.
As Kaboly notes, the Steelers will limit Watt’s reps in training camp with the goal of keeping him in peak health for the start of the regular season. Managing his offseason workload could become commonplace as the years go by with Pittsburgh (similar to many other teams) aiming to reduce wear and tear prior to the regular and postseason. Watt noted he has yet to win a postseason contest in his decorated career, and for at least the time being that will be his main focus.
Would you build a team around Micah Parsons or a young TJ Watt?
No wrong answers here, but Parsons seems to have more versatility in his game. Both are extremely disruptive.
Agreed that there are no wrong answers here. We know TJ Watt goes on to have a Hall of Fame peak and career, and that’s a bird in the hand you would almost always take, but Parsons also still has a chance to develop into one of the all-time elite defenders. Parsons has been a workhorse, has started every game of his career, and already has three star caliber seasons and 40.5 sacks under his belt before turning 25, so he’s on a hall of fame trajectory and most likely hasn’t peaked yet, which is a scary proposition. Watt has shown more in run defense, but Parsons has time to develop that. He also has more time to have a game-wrecking injury. I lean Parsons for upside and early career head start over certainty, but again, no wrong answers here. I think we’re talking about two hall of famers here.
Thanks for your insight. I thought it was close enough that we’d get some interesting answers.
It was a fun thought experiment!
You left out the part where Watt said: “For me, it is all about no playoff wins.” That says it all. The players, like real fans, want playoff wins. Only Tomlin fanboys are satisfied with keeping Tomlin’s “no losing season” record intact. Watt wants to win a Super Bowl. Can the Steelers do that again under Tomlin? Spare me the “he’s a players’ coach” and “the players love him” replies. I wish we’d kept Flores and traded Tomlin for some top picks.
Well stated. I like what they’ve done this off season. But it’s hard to imagine them competing with KC or Baltimore come playoff time, among others
To be fair, Watt has been documented in the past of mainly focusing on his own stats and other individual accomplishments. It is no surprise that TJ is now focusing on talking about team oriented things because the local sports media here in Pittsburgh have started to chide him for being focused on his own things and not team things.
Of course people want playoff wins, but be careful what you wish for, as well. Sometimes the guy you get is not better than the guy you had. Tomlin obviously has his faults, no dispute there, but he at least gets Pittsburgh reliably into the playoffs most years. They’ve finally rebuilt their offensive line, if this year’s picks work out, which is an important part of becoming a top contender again.
Of course the Steelers can upgrade. But what percentage of coaches out there can actually be one? Coaches need to get them into the playoffs reliably at all to even have this issue. The team needs to continue rebuilding its talent to push them over the top so that they can go further than where they’ve been stopped in the last decade. Would that not be the best combination-a reliable playoff coach with an elite roster?
AK, I think the issue with Tomlin and the Steelers is familiarity. This is not a comparison on coaching prowess just a parallel I see.
Reid and McCarthy both had early success and then nothing for a while. Reid found a job quick, McCarthy waited a year and found what was considered a good job, and both found success with those teams (obviously Reid more).
Tomlin needs to move on from the Steelers. He continues to push a defensive first team since Haley left and that has failed to result in success and will continue to lack production I think.
Tomlin was best when he had a great coaching beneath him, and he hasn’t hired great coaches in a very long time and he needs to own that badge.
Agreed, Ak185. And how exactly was Tomlin supposed to make a deep run with any of his recent QB situations? Look at the teams that actually go deep in the playoffs.
Oooof, I mean to what end though? Not every team is going to have a Mahomes, Allen, Hurts, or Burrow. There are plenty of guys like Dak, Trevor Lawrence, Geno Smith, Joe Flacco, Daniel Jones, Derrick Carr, Mac Jones, Jimmy G, Baker Mayfield, and others going back a few years that aren’t top end QBs that make the playoffs and some win from that group.
I will say this, the move Khan made to ship out Diontae is going to be a huge handcuff for Wilson this year. Improved QB play, improved O-Line, good RB depth, and now they have 1 guy to catch the ball and they moved him for a no-name CB to boot.
I was responding to the subject of them making a serious run in the playoffs, which none of those guys have done except for Jimmy G, who got to work with Kyle Shanahan, who–no disrespect to Brock Purdy, who I think is a perfectly fine QB–can elevate a mid quarterback who executes the plan. The Steelers have made the playoffs three of the last four seasons despite having the tattered remains of Big Ben and a failed pick. I think every guy you listed is better than what Tomlin has been working with the past half decade.
I also think they’ve all been working with better play callers than Matt Canada (well, the year Mac Jones made the playoffs–I don’t think anyone in recent memory is worse than Patricia). To whatever degree Tomlin kept Canada around, he deserves some dinging. I think Arthur Smith is a huge improvement, even if he’s an odd fit for their new QBs. Tomlin has also kept the ship steady while they’ve completely remade several position groups, including a very problematic offensive line.
Anyway, again, I was responding to the idea of making deep playoff runs. How many teams are doing that without either an elite QB or a very good QB and one of the very best offensive play callers in football? The Steelers’ QB situation has been realistically disqualifying for a deep playoff run for at least half a decade at this point.
And agreed about the Johnson trade. I think it’s entirely possible Roman Wilson can make things fine by the end of the year, but even if they were going to trade Johnson, I have to believe they could have done a better job of it than that. Generally speaking, though, I think they’ve done a great job of roster building
I agree with Oof. I do agree with MacBeth, though, in the observation that Tomlin does need capable coaches below him to work out actual tactics on the field. Tomlin, as we’ve noted, doesn’t seem like as much of a schemer and more like a manager. There is a lot of value in that, and every successful coach needs some of that, but Tomlin has recently retained some bad playcallers in replacement of good ones.
I don’t think that he’s running a defensive first team, however; at least, not intentionally. I think that the offense has just been bad. I don’t think that it was a purposeful decision to prioritize one over the other, they just screwed one side up.
Hard to put a price on culture. Even yogurt is getting more expensive 😉
I see what you did there…pretty good joke, if you whey the alternatives.
Jules Winnfield: Say ‘Watt’ again. Say ‘Watt’ again, I dare you, I double dare you @#$%, say Watt one more GD time!