The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the few organization's in the NFL that take the most pride in investing in defense. The Steelers are about to have the league's highest-paid defense for the fourth consecutive season in a row, but some major improvements have been made. Darius Slay was brought in at cornerback, and the team also drafted two promising players along the defensive line in Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black. The unit as a whole should be better in 2025, as long as the franchise can come to an agreement with star outside linebacker TJ Watt as he enters the final year of his current contract.
Watt has been one of the best defenders in the NFL over the last eight years or so, and he wants an extension as he is coming up on the final season of his deal. Both sides want to get a deal done, but they are not currently on the same page. Watt has made it clear that he is willing to hold out as he was not present at Organized Team Activities (OTAs) or mandatory minicamp. If this goes into training camp, Watt should not be expected to be in Latrobe.
The defender is an important part of Pittsburgh's defense, and it is obvious he gives opposing offenses headaches. Orlando Brown Jr. of the Cincinnati Bengals recently went on NFL Live, where he was asked to name the toughest players he has had to block in the NFL. He included Watt on that list.
"I gotta put my man TJ Watt in here." Brown said. "As everybody knows with TJ, man, he's impossible to keep off the stat-sheet. I mean, there's been times l've played him, I thought I did a good job in pass-protection. And he's got two tackles for a loss on me, man."
Brown explained exactly what is so dangerous about Watt, and that is that he can make an impact on a game in multiple ways. He has his signature of sacking the quarterback, but he also dropped back and picked off passes, batted balls down at the line of scrimmage, been a menace in the run game, and come out of nowhere to force a fumble on a running back. He will always impact the game, no matter what the opposing side is doing.
Brown is fairly familiar with Watt. He was drafted just one year after the star defender, and he has played in the AFC throughout his entire career. He spent the first three seasons of his time in the league with the Baltimore Ravens, and he was then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent two seasons there before signing with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023. Brown has spent five years in the AFC North, and he knows better than anyone just how good Watt is.
Steelers' Watt Put Beneath Myles Garrett Once Again
One of the best rivalries in the NFL isn't just a rivalry between teams, it is a positional rivalry. Every time Pittsburgh plays the Cleveland Browns it is known that the two sides hate each other, but people are also always comparing the stats of the two best edge rushers in the game, Watt and Myles Garrett. Brown placed Garrett ahead of Watt, saying that Garrett was the second hardest person he has had to block in his entire career.
Watt finished just one spot behind Garrett, and funny enough, JJ Watt finished one spot ahead of Garrett. No statistic shows that Garrett has had a better career than Watt, but it is hard to argue with a player that has had to block both while playing for two teams in the AFC North.
