Since the Pittsburgh Steelers offered Nick Herbig the $100 million contract, their LB room has seemingly become expensive. Although the players are largely the same, this year all three of them have top-of-the-market contracts, with T.J. Watt’s extension only kicking in last season.

However, after a poor 2025, a lot of question marks have been raised about the contract value Watt has received. In a recent article from Bleacher Report that discussed the top 10 worst contracts in the NFL, Watt ranked fifth. His three-year, $123 million deal will see him earn the most money on the roster next season. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon pointed out in his latest article that Watt’s stats seem to be spiralling with each year.

“[TJ Watt’s] sack numbers have plummeted from 19 in 2023 to 11.5 in 2024 to seven in 2025,” wrote Brad Gagnon. “This was his first relatively full non-All-Pro season since 2018, indicating that a decline is well underway. Even if the Steelers move on after the 2027 campaign, Watt will have cost the team $94 million in salary and dead-cap charges for just two seasons of work.”

This is the first time since 2022 that Watt recorded fewer than 10 sacks. However, he did suffer from a torn pectoral muscle that saw him miss seven games that year. So, if it is truly taken into consideration, then it was his rookie year that his sack count was in the single digits the last time.

Between 2017 and 2021, Watt was at his very best; his sacks gradually increased, with him recording 22.5 sacks in 2021 and winning the AP Defensive Player of the Year.

But since then, his form has deteriorated, as his sacks have consistently gone down since his DPOY year performance.

To make things interesting, last July, the Steelers offered him a three-year contract extension worth $123 million. The contract will keep him until the end of the 2028 season.

Even if the franchise plays him this year and tries to trade him in 2027, it will do them more harm than good. They will incur a dead cap of $52 million, and it will likely be an unprofitable trade considering he will be 32-years-old. Moreover, if they want to trade him now, the dead cap rises to $94 million. The linebacker received $108 million as guaranteed. All in all, the contract and declining form have put the franchise in a dilemma.

So, does this mean that it is over between the Steelers and Watt? While the contract situation points that way, few people believe that Watt could make a comeback under Mike McCarthy.

Is T.J. Watt making a comeback in 2026?

T.J. Watt has built up an impressive resume since the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in 2017. But it seems that the opposing teams have pinpointed his playstyle and have been significantly successful in stopping him in his tracks. It was one of the reasons why the LB had such a poor season last year. But it does not mean that it is the end of the line for the former DPOY. Former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always preferred to run the same schemes every time. It was a rigid system. But with new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, it is believed to have changed.

Graham prefers a dynamic and versatile system. When one doesn’t work, he is willing to use other schemes to bring the best out of his players. With Watt getting the hang of the change and claiming it to be good, he is seemingly on board with Graham. He is also willing to play a different role other than just being the outside linebacker.

During the OTAs, the coaching staff had him moving around the formation. They experimented with his ability to be deployed more creatively as a versatile edge rusher. Watt is trying to get familiar with techniques that will maximize his impact as an edge rusher. It is going to be a crucial year for Watt’s career. He will hope to redeem himself after all the criticism. However, if things go south, there is a possibility that Mike McCarthy will try to move on from Watt, which, although will be difficult, could be something the Steelers explore in the near future.