Steelers Now
During a recent appearance on 93.7 The Fan, former Buffalo Bills general manager and Pittsburgh Steelers executive Doug Whaley outlined what would be a good stat line for T.J. Watt in 2026.
“I would say if he scratched double digits, get that in between eight to 10 sacks, I think that’s gonna be a good stat line because again, I think they’re gonna have a rotation between him, [Alex] Highsmith, [Nick] Herbig, and then even a little [Jack Sawyer] sprinkled in,” Whaley said. “And in my opinion, what I would think about doing is really upping Herbig’s reps early in the season to hold T.J. and get him peaking at the end of the year, especially if you’re in that playoff run and playoff contention.
“Have him fresher at the end of the season instead of the beginning of these. And if they do that, I definitely the he could get to 10 [sacks].”
Watt, who turns 32 in October, production has decreased significantly in the last two seasons. Despite a warning sign late in the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers still opted to give Watt a massive deal.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon thinks Watt’s current contract is one of the worst in the NFL. He tabbed Watt’s three-year, $123 million ($108 million guaranteed) that was signed in 2025 as the fifth-worst contract in the league.
“The 31-year-old’s sack numbers have plummeted from 19 in 2023 to 11.5 in 2024 to seven in 2025. This was his first relatively full non-All-Pro season since 2018, indicating that a decline is well underway,” Gagnon wrote. “Even if the Steelers move on after the 2027 campaign, Watt will have cost the team $94 million in salary and dead-cap charges for just two seasons of work.”
Myles Garrett is out of the division, but former Steelers safety Solomon Wilcots believes Garrett winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the second time last season is in the back of Watt’s mind.
“This dude, year after year after year, gets double-digit numbers. He’s a sure-shot Hall of Famer, but he’s still, in my mind, in his prime this year. This year, they’re going to be moving him around; he wants to do it. I think he’s driven by Myles Garrett. I think the two drive each other. There’s a cold war that exists between these two, having played in the same division, in the same draft class,” Wilcots said on The Opening Drive on SiriusXM NFL Radio.”
Watt revealed at OTAs that he’ll move around more in Patrick Graham’s defense. Watt typically only lined up at the left outside linebacker position.
“A lot of us are interchangeable partners,” Watt said. “You’re not just learning your position. You kind of have to learn the whole defensive front structure because we all are basically interchangeable.”
Watt admitted he was hard-headed when it came to moving around the defense.
”I think in the past, it was a little bit more about me being stubborn,” Watt said. “I think...
