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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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T.J. Watt's 2025 season was a rollercoaster.
In July, he finally got his long-awaited contract extension, receiving a three-year, $123 million deal, with $108 million guaranteed. At the time, it made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, though that's now been surpassed by several of his counterparts.
Still, the extension resolved months of speculation about whether he'd hold out or even get traded after his previous deal expired.
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He backed that up with 55 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 19 quarterback hits, seven sacks, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions during the regular season. He made his eighth straight Pro Bowl and also passed his brother J.J. Watt on the all-time sack list, now sitting 26th all-time with 115 career sacks.
But in December, he was hospitalized with a partially collapsed lung, which sidelined him for three games. He returned in Week 18, but it was the first time since 2022 that he had missed multiple games in a season.
The Steelers also lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs to Houston, marking another early playoff exit for Watt in Pittsburgh.
Now, with training camp just around the corner for the Steelers, NFL executives are sounding the alarm.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler released his annual edge rusher rankings, and put Watt No. 7 overall, dropping five spots from last year, with one AFC exec pointing to a clear decline in performance.
"Definitely in decline," the exec said. "He's still very good. But some of the younger players have surpassed him."
"He can win with his high motor and his flair for the big play, but the burst and get-off isn't the same as it was as a result of lower-body injuries," another personnel evaluator told Fowler.
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Since Pittsburgh drafted him 30th overall in 2017, Watt has been one of the best in the game. He won Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, has earned first-team All-Pro honors four times, and second-team All-Pro twice. He also led the league in forced fumbles in 2019 and 2024, and holds the NFL record for most seasons leading the league in sacks with three.
Watt will undoubtedly be in the Hall of Fame when it's all said and done. But his numbers have also gone down the past few seasons, and he'll turn 32 in October. And with that Super Bowl ring still eluding him, you have to wonder how much longer he'll be willing to stick around if things don't turn around.
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