Watt's Up with T.J.?

[whisper]

The team is wide awake. They know they risk losing players like Bell and Watt due to their contract structures but.. they just go out and draft more players and do it all over again.

also means fans will be left wondering what “could have been” with certain teams when a player decides to chase the money.

We won 6 SB’s with our conservative FO so I think we are okay continuing this formula even though its frustrating for fans

We "won" 6 SBs when? 2008 was the latest. It's 2021. That's about a decade and a half. So before you get all preachy with "their way worked before" keep in mind when it was it worked. And, let me remind you, it was 2 and a half decades between "learning" how to operate from what worked in the 70's.

[whisper]

I think this would make sense if it's true.

If they don't have the money, it would be a legit limitation and not something they could bargain around (unless Art was going to pay it out of his pocket, which seems like a less than ideal ay to run a business).

I guess the counter argument is: "They did it for Ben, so it's not something they absolutely can't do".

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2020/09/10/the-nfls-most-valuable-teams-2020-how-much-is-your-favorite-team-worth/?sh=5a06dff92ba4

"Don't have the $?" The team is worth $3 BILLION. That is 3,000 million bucks.

[NorthCoast]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza...h=5a06dff92ba4

"Don't have the $?" The team is worth $3 BILLION. That is 3,000 million bucks.

Funny money that can't be put in a bank. Unless you are considering taking out a loan against it, which for any player would be ludicrous.

[feltdizz]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza...h=5a06dff92ba4

"Don't have the $?" The team is worth $3 BILLION. That is 3,000 million bucks.

You think its in a safe at Rooney’s house?

[hawaiiansteel]

You think its in a safe at Rooney’s house?

too obvious.

it's underneath the mattresses.

[feltdizz]

too obvious.

it's underneath the mattresses.

small unmarked bills

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

NFL Live Shefter reporting deal done - 4 years $112M, no word on guarantees

[Shawn]

I guarantee the Steelers will give him at least 30M per season. I’ve been wrong a lot but everything I’ve heard points to that figure.

Works out to 28 million a year. Certainly less guarantees than many anticipated. I wouldn't call it a team friendly deal but it's better than predicted.

[feltdizz]

Works out to 28 million a year. Certainly less guarantees than many anticipated. I wouldn't call it a team friendly deal but it's better than predicted.

ESPN is reporting his agents thought they could get more but Watt busted into Rooneys office (not really) and said they had a deal.

[NorthCoast]

Watt was caught working them biceps late yesterday;

[NorthCoast]

Details on the contract. Have to say it doesn't look all that bad for PIT;

Inside the T.J. Watt megadeal
Posted by Mike Florio on September 9, 2021, 7:26 PM EDT

On Thursday, Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt signed a massive four-year, $112 million extension to remain in Pittsburgh through at least 2025. It makes him the highest paid defensive player in league history.

The deal also made a different kind of history. The Steelers made a major change to the way the Steelers do things. They don’t fully guarantee contracts beyond the first year. More accurately, they didn’t. They are fully guaranteeing THREE years of the Watt deal.

PFT has obtained the full details regarding the Watt deal. Here they are, per a source with knowledge of them.

1. Signing Bonus: $35.0 million.

2. 2021 Base Salary: $1.0 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2022 Base Salary: $24.0 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2023 Base Salary: $20.0 million, fully guaranteed.

5. 2024 Base Salary: $21.05 million.

6. 2025 Base Salary: $21.05 million.

The deal averages $28 million per year in new money, $1 million more than the previous high-water mark set by Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa. It also becomes the largest full guarantee for a defensive player in NFL history, at $80 million. (Bosa has a full guarantee of $78 million and an effective guarantee of $102 million.)

This year, Watt was due to make $10.1 million. He’ll now make $36 million. (Bosa got $43 million in the first year.)

Watt will make $60 million over the first two years; Bosa gets $56.75 million, and Bears linebacker Khalil Mack got $56.5 million. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett receives $43.546 million in the first two years of his contract.

Through three years, Watt will get $80 million. Bosa will receive $78 million, Mack gets $73.7 million, and Garrett will earn $62.546 million.

Bosa’s cash flows surpasses the Watt deal in years on the back end; $102 million versus $101.05 million through four and $124 million versus $122.1 million through five.

Also, Watt signed only a four-year extension. He’s under contract one fewer year than Bosa and Garrett, and two fewer years than Mack. The full duration of the deal (five years) means he’ll possibly get another crack at another major deal by the time he turns 30.

Bottom line? Watt got what he deserved, and he got the Steelers to abandon one of their longstanding rules of contract negotiation. It will be interesting to see whether it’s an aberration or a trend.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...watt-megadeal/

[Monalo]

ESPN is reporting his agents thought they could get more but Watt busted into Rooneys office (not really) and said they had a deal.

This really is about accurate according to Schefter.

“Steelers’ OLB T.J. Watt overruled his agents who believed they could get more money today, marched into the office of Steelers president Art Rooney and told him they had a deal,” Schefter wrote on Twitter. “Then the NFL’s new highest-paid defensive player excused himself and announced he had to go work out.”

Gotta love it. Time to go to work!

[Northern_Blitz]

Details on the contract. Have to say it doesn't look all that bad for PIT;

Inside the T.J. Watt megadeal
Posted by Mike Florio on September 9, 2021, 7:26 PM EDT

On Thursday, Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt signed a massive four-year, $112 million extension to remain in Pittsburgh through at least 2025. It makes him the highest paid defensive player in league history.

The deal also made a different kind of history. The Steelers made a major change to the way the Steelers do things. They don’t fully guarantee contracts beyond the first year. More accurately, they didn’t. They are fully guaranteeing THREE years of the Watt deal.

PFT has obtained the full details regarding the Watt deal. Here they are, per a source with knowledge of them.

1. Signing Bonus: $35.0 million.

2. 2021 Base Salary: $1.0 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2022 Base Salary: $24.0 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2023 Base Salary: $20.0 million, fully guaranteed.

5. 2024 Base Salary: $21.05 million.

6. 2025 Base Salary: $21.05 million.

The deal averages $28 million per year in new money, $1 million more than the previous high-water mark set by Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa. It also becomes the largest full guarantee for a defensive player in NFL history, at $80 million. (Bosa has a full guarantee of $78 million and an effective guarantee of $102 million.)

This year, Watt was due to make $10.1 million. He’ll now make $36 million. (Bosa got $43 million in the first year.)

Watt will make $60 million over the first two years; Bosa gets $56.75 million, and Bears linebacker Khalil Mack got $56.5 million. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett receives $43.546 million in the first two years of his contract.

Through three years, Watt will get $80 million. Bosa will receive $78 million, Mack gets $73.7 million, and Garrett will earn $62.546 million.

Bosa’s cash flows surpasses the Watt deal in years on the back end; $102 million versus $101.05 million through four and $124 million versus $122.1 million through five.

Also, Watt signed only a four-year extension. He’s under contract one fewer year than Bosa and Garrett, and two fewer years than Mack. The full duration of the deal (five years) means he’ll possibly get another crack at another major deal by the time he turns 30.

Bottom line? Watt got what he deserved, and he got the Steelers to abandon one of their longstanding rules of contract negotiation. It will be interesting to see whether it’s an aberration or a trend.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...watt-megadeal/

It's interesting that it saves us a couple $M this year.

Wonder if there's something we think we might do with that, or if we'll just hold on to it and roll it over into next year.

I think the contract length is the part of the deal that we "lost" here.

[papillon]

I hope that the Steelers end up better off than the Chargers and Bears after the Watt deal. That will be the true measure of the value of the deal. Are the Steelers a playoff team? and, will Watt make some plays should the Steelers make the playoffs?

Pappy

[feltdizz]

I hope that the Steelers end up better off than the Chargers and Bears after the Watt deal. That will be the true measure of the value of the deal. Are the Steelers a playoff team? and, will Watt make some plays should the Steelers make the playoffs?

Pappy

This is what scares me Pap. We haven’t won any playoff games with Watt on a rookie deal and now we are paying him $28 mill.

I know he has stats but its not like our D dragged us to an AFCCG last year.. or
even a playoff win.