Overview

• Steelers and Watt remain in active extension talks with both sides expecting a deal before Week 1 of the 2025 season
• Contract stalemate centers on how many years and how much guaranteed money to offer the 30-year-old pass rusher
• Recent market milestones – including Myles Garrett’s four-year, $160 million pact and DK Metcalf’s franchise-record deal – have elevated Watt’s asking price
• Watt’s absence from voluntary OTAs signals his camp’s urgency to narrow the gap between his demands and Pittsburgh’s proposal
• GM Omar Khan and coach Mike Tomlin are determined to keep Watt, the franchise’s all-time sack leader, as a cornerstone of the defense