T.J. Watt has wanted to be a “one-helmet guy” from the second he arrived in Pittsburgh eight years ago.The star outside linebacker took one big step toward that goal on Thursday, agreeing to a new pact that will make him the league's highest-paid defender and keep the perennial All-Pro in black-and gold well into his 30s.

The Pittsburgh Steelers completely embraced their 2025 status as the NFL's Expendables on Thursday by extending outside linebacker T.J. Watt to a record-breaking new deal.

Watt, 30, was entering the final year of a four-year, $112 million extension that he had signed just before the start of the 2022 season. At the time, the extension made Watt the NFL's highest-paid defensive player.