T.J. Watt contract extension: 3 ways how it impacts the Eagles

The Steelers’ big news has some implications for Pennsylvania’s superior football team on the eastern side of the Keystone State.

The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly signed All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt to a massive contract extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Believe it or not, this news is meaningful for the Philadelphia Eagles. Here’s how.

1) The Eagles will not be trading for T.J. Watt in 2025.

There was previously some idle offseason discussion about the Eagles trading Nolan Smith and a late-round draft pick for Watt. That much seemingly stemmed from a SportsRadio 94WIP interview with a Steelers reporter who speculated such a deal could take place.

While it’s always fun to talk about and dream up potential trade scenarios, the feeling here is that proposed swap was never very realistic.

For starters, it was hard to ever believe the Steelers were going to ship out a cornerstone like Watt. They’re 1-11 in games without him since he was drafted. And they’re clearly in a win-now window after signing aging veterans like Aaron Rodgers, who turns 42 this season, and former Eagles cornerback Darius Slay.

As for the Eagles’ perspective, they clearly haven’t been interested in making a big-money external acquisition this offseason. They’ve instead opted to shed cash spending in some places (see: C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade, Dallas Goedert pay cut). They also went bargain bin shopping in free agency. The idea in mind has been that they’re saving up for upcoming contract extensions for homegrown talents such as Jalen Carter and Smith himself. While Watt is obviously a superior player to Smith, the latter is a good value for the Eagles as an ascending talent who currently holds relatively low cap numbers on his rookie contract for two more seasons (plus a fifth-year team option for 2027).

In short, Watt to the Eagles was never happening.

2) Jalen Carter certainly isn’t mad at this news.

Carter will be eligible for a contract extension on January 5, 2026. A guest writer for Bleeding Green Nation previously outlined what a new deal for him might look like. To me, that projection of $30 million per year seems low with Chris Jones currently on top of the defensive tackle market at $31.75 million annually. If Carter continues on his upward trajectory, I think he’s at least going to make more than that. And maybe even as high as the $40 million range, especially if he’s in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, which seems entirely possible. I don’t know if Carter will be making more than Watt’s $41 million annual value. They obviously play different positions and there’s a pretty big bridge for Carter to get to that point. But this Watt contract only helps his chances.

The Breadman is going to get his bread.

3) Micah Parsons’ price tag just went up … again.

If the Dallas Cowboys (who haven’t been to an NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season) operated more like the Eagles (who have two Super Bowl wins in three appearances since the 2017 season), they would’ve had Parsons to signed to a relative bargain by now. He was eligible for an extension as early as two years ago!

Instead, Jerry Jones is inexplicably dragging his feet and it’s only costing him more money in the long run. Just like it did when the Cowboys waited longer than necessary to extend Dak Prescott (multiple times) and CeeDee Lamb.

With Watt reportedly signing a three-year contract extension worth $123 million with $108 million guaranteed, there’s no good reason for Parsons to accept less than the height of top non-QB money at $41 million annually.

Ironically, Parsons expressed frustration with his contract situation earlier on Thursday. He specifically said that the Cowboys “make it more complicated than has to be.” And he’s not wrong. Accordingly, Cowboys fans are also feeling frustrated:

Had the Cowboys signed him two years ago, Parsons could’ve been making something around Nick Bosa’s September 2023 deal that’s worth $34 million per year. Instead, he could be making something like $42 million annually.

Or perhaps even more if Dallas doesn’t get to him before the likes of Aidan Hutchinson and/or Trey Hendrickson only continue to push the price tag up.

I don’t think Eagles fans would mind if Parsons got so fed up that he decided not to re-up with the Cowboys and instead joined his Penn State buddy Saquon Barkley in Philly next year.

4) Did you know? The Eagles and Steelers used to be the same team once upon a time, so they’re actually directly connected.

This is just an inside joke for RJ Ochoa and any devout listeners of The NFC East Mixtape out there. Long live The Steagles.