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T.J. Watt signed new deal against the advice of his agents

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•09/09/21
Pittsburgh Steelers TJ Watt named AFC Defensive Player of the Week Derrick Henry Matthew Wright
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt announced a record-breaking deal with the team Thursday afternoon. He announced he has signed with the Steelers against the advice of his agents, who believed he could get more money, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Watt overruled his agents, who thought he could get more money. The freakishly talented outside linebacker then stormed into the office of Steelers’ President Art Rooney and told them they had a deal. He then excused himself to workout, according to Schefter.

Mega-Deal Details

The deal is a four-year contract extension worth more than $112 million, with $80 million guaranteed at signing, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The deal makes him the highest paid defensive player in football in terms of guaranteed money. Watt will bring in $28.3 million on average annually.

The Steelers were involved in intense contract negotiations with Watt for much of the summer. Steelers’ owner Art Rooney announced last month that he wanted to get a deal done before the 2021 season.

T.J. Watt stats

Watt has been busy establishing himself as one of the best football players in the National Football League, at any position, the past few seasons. Check out the stats below courtesy of PFF.

He’s unquestionably one of the top candidates for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021. In 2020, Watt led the NFL in sacks with 15, 1.5 ahead of Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald.

Battle through injuries

It’s been a long road to NFL superstardom for Watt, who at one point considered quitting football at Wisconsin due to all of the injuries he’d suffered.

Watt suffered what’s known as a patella subluxation, four times in 15 months as Wisconsin. The kneecap dislocated and he tore the patellofemoral ligament twice in both of his knees.

There were doubts about whether or not he’d be healthy enough to play at Wisconsin or even make it to the NFL.

Watt was once a three-star tight end

Coming out of high school, Watt was rated as a three-star prospect by most recruiting services. He started out at Wisconsin as a tight end. Due to his injuries, he never played in a game from Oct. 2012 to Sept. 2015.

Wisconsin’s coaches made the decision to switch him to defensive end in the summer of the 2015 season. The switch would go on to produce one of the best defensive end/linebacker prospects in college football.

T.J. Watt and the Steelers defense kick off their season against the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff is set for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.