{"id":749497,"date":"2026-02-13T15:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749497\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:03:15","slug":"fittipaldo-makes-case-for-how-watt-contract-could-look-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749497\/","title":{"rendered":"Fittipaldo Makes Case For How Watt Contract Could Look Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

One year into T.J. Watt\u2019s record-setting deal, the returns aren\u2019t promising. It was arguably the most disappointing season of his career. Watt will aim to fight father time and improve his play \u2013 and production \u2013 as he nears his mid-30s. PPG writer Ray Fittipaldo makes the case of how it could happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he bounces back and is the old T.J. Watt at 32,\u201d Fittipaldo told 93.7 The Fan\u2019s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller Thursday evening.<\/a> \u201cAnd I\u2019m not talking about 22 sacks, I\u2019m talking about 13, 14, 15 sacks, I think that contract will look a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watt managed just seven sacks last year. Missing three games after a freak lung injury was only one reason for the statistical dip. Even before the incident, Watt recorded more than one sack in just one game and went six without any. His run defense remained strong, and he forced three fumbles with two interceptions. But the Steelers\u2019 aim is for him to record sacks in the teens through the bulk of his extension.<\/p>\n

Turning 32 by the end of the 2026 season, history is working against Watt. Since 2014, only one player age 32 or older recorded 13-plus sacks in a single season; in 2023, Khalil Mack notched 17.<\/p>\n

But Watt isn\u2019t easily to count out. Hungry and perhaps refreshed with a new defensive scheme that does things differently, a healthy year from Watt could bring big results. Even if Watt doesn\u2019t return to his Defensive Player of the Year self, Fittipaldo thinks his contract will look better in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe salary cap went up by what, $20 or $25 million?\u201d he said. \u201cIn two years, that $42 million a year, it\u2019s not gonna be as bad as it is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual salary cap has been increasing every year since the 2021 COVID retraction. Projections put the cap over $300 million<\/a> for 2026, with the official number to be released in less than one month. While Watt\u2019s cap charge is large, teams view the numbers as a percentage of the cap, not the raw figure. The more the cap rises, the smaller that percentage becomes, and the more palatable the contract becomes.<\/p>\n

Still, the Steelers need him to produce. Watt didn\u2019t reset the market to post seven sacks. For the contract to pay off no matter the lens through which it\u2019s viewed, he\u2019ll need a 2026 season that looks closer to his 2023 campaign. Or Pittsburgh will come to regret its deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One year into T.J. Watt\u2019s record-setting deal, the returns aren\u2019t promising. It was arguably the most disappointing season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[8740,7,6,520,57,2360,7827,426,5226],"class_list":{"0":"post-749497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-93-7-the-fan","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-ray-fittipaldo","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-t-j-watt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}