T. J. Watt’s brutal takedown of Art Rooney, II: Steelers succumb and give him the largest contract ever

Apparently the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL

… “Steelers archaic way of thinking” is cracked

The Steelers tried to play hardball with their best player — and he took them to the woodshed. Quite frankly, T.J. Watt came into the 2021 season as the best player on the Steelers’ roster. He knew it, but the team decided to extend his rookie contract of $10 million+ a year and not grant his request for a huge extension. 

Watt won — big time — and Steelers CEO Art Rooney, II, who is under fire by some fans right now as the Steelers are picked to finish third in the AFC North — lost — big-time. 

The Steelers’ hardball game has ended, and while other players may not have Watt’s leverage, this will reverberate through their ranks. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for the Steelers, they have few true Pro Bowl-caliber players — and certainly none on the offensive side. 

Details 

Word of a deal leaked yesterday, and it was confirmed this morning,

The Steelers and All-Pro linebacker T.J. Watt have agreed on a new five-year contract worth $122.1 million with $80 million guaranteed — the largest contract and guaranteed money they have ever given a player, even Ben Roethlisberger, the Post-Gazette has learned.

The agreement, which comes four days before the team’s season opener in Buffalo, ends a summer-long negotiation that had become contentious in the past week because of disagreements on guaranteed money and average salary.

The total value of the deal surpasses the four-year, $87,986,500 deal Roethlisberger signed in March, 2008. The guaranteed money is more than double Roethlisberger’s highest guaranteed amount — $37.5 million on the two-year deal he signed in 2019. That contract had an average salary of $34 million, the largest in franchise history.

Unlike other contracts the Steelers have awarded this season, Watt’s deal does not carry any voidable years. 

Gerry Dulac and Ray Fittipaldo, “Steelers sign T.J. Watt to new $122M deal 

ahead of season opener,” Post-Gazette, September 9, 2021

Archaic way of thinking

The problem for the Steelers and Watt was that they had a policy of refusing to offer fully guaranteed money beyond the first year of an extension. 

Now, Watt has blown that “policy” out of the water, big-time, with one commentator calling it “archaic,”

The Steelers’ policy of not having guarantees beyond year one: I’ve spoken to agents not connected to the T.J. Watt thing who are rooting to [Watt} and his agents on this one, because it drives them nuts, and they’re not the only team that does it. Cincinnati does it. Green Bay does it.

Mike Garafolo, NFL Network, September 8, 2021

That brings down Rooney, who has tried to follow his father’s template — but has failed miserably as the number of Super Bowl appearances in the past decade indicates. 

Some media outlets, including NFL Network and ESPN, reported that the deal makes Watt the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player because they are reporting the contract as a four-year extension worth $112 million with an average salary of $28 million. That would exceed the league’s highest average salary for a defensive player — $27 million by Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa. Watt’s guaranteed money is the highest of any defensive player in the league.

Agents who typically leak contract details to national media outlets prefer to refer to a new deal as an extension because the numbers look bigger and better over the additional years.

Watt was scheduled to count $10,089,000 — the amount of his base salary — against the salary cap in 2021, according to overthecap.com, a website that tracks NFL salaries. He was in the option year of a four-year, $9,258,810 contract he signed in 2017 when he was a first-round pick.

Matthew Marczi, “Agents around NFL rooting for T.J. Watt’s team to crack 

Steelers ‘archaic way of thinking’,” Steelers Depot, September 9, 2009

Watt will play Sunday — but for how long?

While Watt has been in camp all this time, his conditioning did not include any physical contact or working with the team. As a former coach, I realize that you cannot replicate that in conditioning drills,

Watt reported to training camp on time and was at practice every day, but he did not participate in team drills until Wednesday afternoon. He is expected to play in Sunday’s season opener in Buffalo, but defensive coordinator Keith Butler said earlier Thursday that Watt’s playing time might be reduced because of his lack of practice time.

“I think we have to be careful about how many plays he plays,” Butler said. “He’s a veteran. He knows how he feels. We just have to be smart enough to know how much is too much and how much is too little. We want to keep him healthy if we can.”

Even though Watt had not been participating in team drills, he worked on his strength and conditioning throughout camp. The biggest issue, Butler said, is being in football shape and getting used to the physical nature of the sport.

On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin didn’t want to put limitations on Watt when he did return, citing his first-hand experience of watching Aaron Donald of the Rams hold out for most of the summer and later that year be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Gerry Dulac and Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette, September 9, 2021

Rooney caved because he had to, realizing that he has few premiere players and the had had to pay them a salary commensurate with their talents. 

Watt reportedly went over the heads of his agents to sign the contract, but it is a win for them, too. Signing the biggest deal for any defensive player is a major victory for them.