Tomlin’s Masterstroke: Steelers Avoid Offseason Chaos by Locking Watt In Early!

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally took care of business and locked up their star edge rusher T.J. Watt on Tuesday afternoon, when the former DPOY signed a $123 million, three-year contract extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history (for now).

Although you might think it bizarre to imagine a Steelers squad without Watt, that this deal would get done was not necessarily a foregone conclusion. Indeed, rumors and speculation of discontent had been swirling all offseason.

But it finally happened, and before the start of training camp, to boot. And as for the convenience of that timing, well, perhaps we have head coach Mike Tomlin to thank ... albeit indirectly.

Speaking on an episode of Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show on 102.5 WDVE on Tuesday morning, team insider and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Gerry Dulac said Tomlin's desire to avoid "distractions" likely played a role in getting the deal done before camp starts this week.

Asked if he thought the front office's mindset was one of "Get Watt signed so we can focus on all the good PR coming our way, rather than deal with headlines about this," Dulac seemed to agree.

"I think there's some merit to that. Mike Tomlin did not want any more 'distractions' heading into training camp," he said. "That’s the last one; it’s taken care of. Mike Tomlin’s feeling all along was 'Get that deal done. Pay him. Just get the deal done.' He doesn’t control the purse strings, but he can certainly push them in a certain direction. Yeah, I think that was definitely part of it."

With both Watt and Aaron Rodgers up in the air, it really had been a distracting few months for the Black and Gold. But now that both players are locked in, it sounds like Tomlin is ready to put it all behind them and start fresh at camp. Here We Go.