Pittsburg, PA
T.J. Watt contract winners and losers: Teammate hurt, peer helped by $123M extension?
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One of the more prominent and previously outstanding matters of league-wide NFL business ahead of training camps, which open en masse next week, was checked off the list Thursday afternoon when Pittsburgh Steelers superstar pass rusher T.J. Watt agreed to a long-awaited contract extension, per reports, with the only professional team he’s ever known.
And while this deal was largely expected to materialize at some point this summer and may not necessarily create a seismic impact throughout the football world, it could have some broader implications than you might think.
So we thought about it and now present you with the winners and losers from Watt’s big bag of loot:
WINNERS
T.J. Watt
But of course. His three-year, $123 million extension makes him the top-paid non-quarterback in league history, in terms of average annual value, for the second time in his career. It also means Watt, 30, will almost certainly finish out his football days with the Steelers, who drafted the eventual four-time All-Pro and 2021 Defensive Player of the Year 30th overall in 2017. Pittsburgh’s all-time leader with 108 career sacks, Watt is currently sixth among active players but could vault all the way up to second with one of his typically dominant seasons in 2025. He’s certainly got 123 million reasons worth of incentives to do so.
Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan
The conclusion of negotiations with Watt would seem to mark the end of a wildly successful offseason, one when the Steelers’ longtime head coach and recently extended general manager, respectively, practiced patience while fans and some league observers practiced panic. But now Watt has returned to the fold, which he always seemed destined to do, and will soon meet new teammates like QB Aaron Rodgers, who also took his sweet time signing on, WR DK Metcalf, DB Jalen Ramsey and TE Jonnu Smith along with the incoming rookie class. Expectations are justifiably growing for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season.
Jalen Ramsey
The perennial Pro Bowler was acquired (along with Smith) at the end of June in a summertime blockbuster that reshapes the back end of Pittsburgh’s defense with S Minkah Fitzpatrick headed back to the Miami Dolphins. It’s currently unclear as to how Ramsey might divide his time between covering receivers out wide, manning the slot or even putting in some work at safety with Fitzpatrick out of the picture. What is certain is that Ramsey’s best years were spent with the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring four years ago and was consistently at the top of his game playing behind demonic Aaron Donald, who caused so much havoc for opposing quarterbacks. Watt might not quite be Donald, but his presence is almost certain to benefit Ramsey, whether it means less time required in coverage, more opportunities to go ball hawking or even the ability to freelance more once he’s comfortable in his new system and surroundings.
Micah Parsons
With Watt’s contract done, it’s almost certainly just a matter of time before the Dallas Cowboys’ top defender − and one of the NFL’s very best − becomes the next top-paid non-quarterback of all time, whether it’s for $41.1 million a year, $44 million or whatever. But Parsons’ money is coming, and his boss, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is probably only too happy to generate that headline in due course now that he basically knows where the target is.
(Also, Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson stands to benefit − at some point − from Watt’s newly realized riches, though he might be waiting longer given his rookie deal doesn’t expire until after the 2026 season.)
LOSERS
T.J. Watt
Bro, why are you signing this paper now? It’s supposed to be in the high 80s, humid and wet when you report to training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, six days from now – where you’ll be moving into dorm rooms at Saint Vincent College. And if that’s not a darkness retreat … (Also, if the answer is evading compulsory fines for missing camp, I’d like to introduce you to Michael Strahan. But I digress.) Watt must really be missing his buddies after skipping the Steelers’ offseason training program given he could have let this drag out another couple weeks while holding in or even simply remaining at the crib or beach or wherever. In addition, no chance brothers J.J. and Derek are ever picking up another dinner check.
They have yet to placate their own holdout pass rusher, All-Pro DE Trey Hendrickson waiting for his financial situation to be resolved. Hendrickson, 30, who has 35 sacks over the past two seasons – 4½ more than Watt over the same period – hasn’t necessarily been looking to reset the market. But given he’s due to make $16 million in the final year of his deal, it’s apparent to him and anyone else outside of Cincinnati that he’s (over)due for a raise and isn’t merely 39% the player Watt is (when you crunch the salary figures anyway). And given how everything is seemingly falling into place in Pittsburgh – and already was basically set in Baltimore – the Bengals would be doing little more than undercutting their playoff hopes yet again by letting business matters impede their football operation. Pay the man.
Myles Garrett
Feels like it was just five minutes ago that he became the first non-quarterback to break the $40 million per year contractual barrier. Then he was overtaken by Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and now Watt, who both play for (better) division rivals of Garrett’s Cleveland Browns. And, after explicitly stating he was the league’s best defensive player last season after the Browns beat the Steelers in Cleveland – a remark clearly directed at Watt – doesn’t it have to irk Garrett just a little bit that he’s now the second-best paid defender … and for a team that’s probably going to stink?
The Steelers’ Week 1 opponents will now be catching the full T.J. Watt Experience as they unveil an offense led by new QB1 (and former Steeler) Justin Fields. And just when the NYJ might have started to hope they’d be catching a guy trying to knock off rust and possibly playing on an opening day pitch count given how negotiations can sometimes drag late into the process with Pittsburgh players …
Aaron Rodgers?
The Steelers are Watt’s team, and he’s been the face of this franchise for a minute … though maybe you could argue it’s actually Tomlin. Regardless, Rodgers will definitely be the story as long as he’s amongst the yinzers, and the spotlight is about to be completely re-trained onto the four-time league MVP. No more time spent fretting about Watt’s bank account or whereabouts or questions posed to Rodgers about what No. 90 means to the team and how important it is to reward him. Nope, nope, nope. This is now all about No. 8 and what he can do to end Pittsburgh’s playoff failures and stabilize a position – temporarily anyway – that has effectively undermined this team since even before Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2022. Have fun with that, Mr. Rodgers!
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Pittsburg, PA
Family of woman shot to death in front of her Crafton Heights business call for justice, “I can’t get my wife justice.”
It’s been 163 days, more than five months, since a 19-year-old man shot a woman to death outside her business in Crafton Heights.
Samantha Howells was the one who ended up dying, and she was just 52 years old.
Family members and friends are frustrated, though, with how the legal process is moving, and they sought to protest that Friday.
Being near something that invokes such sharp emotional pain is not easy.
“It’s bad, it’s hard on all of us,” Cheri Randall, Samantha’s mother, said.
But for those who knew and loved Samantha Howells? They say it’s necessary.
“My life’s a wreck, okay? Because I can’t get my wife justice,” Randall Richard, Samantha’s widow, said.
As they pulled out onto the street with their trucks and their cars, their message remained consistent.
“I didn’t get [any] justice yet at all,” Richard said.
Police said Howells stopped at the tow shop she owned across the street back on June 4.
She was worried that Isreal Moseby, 19, and two others were stealing from wrecked cars there.
Court docs said Howells took pictures while walking up to them. Those docs claim Moseby followed Howells back into her car and shot her.
“My aunt should have never been lying in that street in front of her business,” Tyler Schivins, Samantha’s nephew, said.
Howell’s loved ones said they’re frustrated with how long they’ve had to wait for a preliminary hearing. Moseby’s last scheduled court date was October 31. That’s been continued for the third time.
His next scheduled date is February 20, 2026.
For people like Richard, what he sees as a snail-like pace is something he’s struggled with.
“I have to build myself up to go to the preliminary hearing – because that’s the closest I’m ever going to be to [Moseby],” he said. “…every time I’m ready to do that – the rug gets pulled out from me.”
In the meantime? They remember someone who meant so much to them, a mother, grandmother, and friend.
With Friday’s procession? They hope to make sure people don’t forget who she was or forget her case.
“If that’s their game, I’m not letting it happen, I’ll… I’ll do this every week,” Richard said.
Pittsburg, PA
Rogue Pittsburgh tow truck operator ordered to pay back nearly $400,000 to insurance companies
A tow truck operator in Pittsburgh who pleaded guilty to felony insurance fraud and theft by deception charges after being caught charging as much as $11,000 per tow was ordered to pay back nearly $400,000 to insurance companies.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Randal Todd ordered Vince Fannick on Thursday to pay $379,000 to the defrauded insurance companies within 30 days or face imprisonment in a state penitentiary. Prosecutors deemed Fannick’s practices as predatory, charging 36 victims anywhere between $9,000 and $11,000 to tow their cars short distances while holding the vehicles hostage until he was paid.
The judge sentenced Fannick to six months of house arrest and five years’ probation, ordering him to record a public service announcement on predatory towing. He also told Fannick he can never tow again and must sell all of his tow trucks.
“It should cause pause among the wreck chasers and the rogue towers that exorbitant billing for services that are not rendered, it’s a crime, and they’ll come after you for it,” said Christopher Sloan of the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority.
There are no legal limits on how much tow truck operators can charge, and as a result, few have been prosecuted. But in lowering the boom on Fannick, Judge Todd is sending a message. And the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority says operators should take notice.
“Be a good business partner,” Sloan said. “Respect the people in your community. Treat them with respect, and they’ll treat you with respect.”
In dropping the hammer, Judge Todd sends a message to other predatory towers that they are not above the law and will face consequences for their actions.
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