LATROBE, Pa. -- A day after officially signing his three-year, $123 million extension, T.J. Watt was relaxed and jovial Wednesday as he reported to his ninth Pittsburgh Steelers training camp.
Watt's deal comes with $108 million fully guaranteed at signing and makes him the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback. The deal's $41 million average per year tops the $40.25 million average salary given to Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and the $40 million awarded to Cleveland Browns standout edge rusher Myles Garrett earlier this offseason.
"I just wanted the deal to get done, and obviously I'm happy it got done before training camp just to be able to be here to eliminate any potential distraction to just worry about football," Watt said. "It's a fun time of year, it really is to be here back in La Trobe, we're going to go to Sharky's at some point and get some wings. We always do all the traditions that makes this place special and hopefully leads to a successful season for us."
And, Watt added, the Sharky's trip will be his treat.
"I'll be picking up the check for quite some time, I'm sure," he said. "I got no problem doing that."
Watt's deal came after prolonged negotiations and a rare minicamp absence, but his teammates and general manager Omar Khan remained confident Watt's contract would get done.
"It was always very important for me and for the organization to have T.J. be a one-helmet Hall of Famer," Khan said Wednesday. "And hopefully he's got several years left and we feel really, really good about having him locked up and excited.
"Sometimes these things take longer, takes longer than you would like, but I always felt good about getting it done. We had conversations obviously since early in the offseason. It just kind of came together last week or the week before that."
Negotiations appeared to be contentious early in the process when Watt posted a picture of himself in a Steelers uniform flashing a peace sign to his Instagram story. That, he said Wednesday, was just him having a little bit of "fun."
"Sometimes it's just fun to have fun with the narratives out there," he said with a chuckle. "Obviously I am very in tune with what's going on in negotiations and how things are going, and it's fun to see what you guys are all writing -- thinking that things are one way even though they're completely a different way.
"Sometimes it's fun, especially when it's early in the offseason to just throw something out there and see what happens. It stirred things up a lot more than I ever thought it could."
Though he wasn't in Pittsburgh for the Steelers' offseason program, Watt said he continued to work out on his own. He even hosted fellow outside linebacker Nick Herbig for a morning workout in Wisconsin before agreeing to contract terms with the Steelers hours later.
"I'm not even surprised, man," Herbig said. "He's the best in the world. There's a reason why, you see it day in and day out. The way that guy works is just second to none. He deserves every dollar of it, and I'm excited to get to work."
While Watt was away, the Steelers' roster underwent a major overhaul as the team traded away wide receiver George Pickens and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and added cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and receiver DK Metcalf, among others.
To Watt, that further signaled the Steelers' commitment to ending the drought of playoff wins that extends nearly a decade.
"It's the endless pursuit of it, and just wanting to continue to do everything possible, turn over every stone," Watt said of what gives him confidence that the team can achieve postseason success. "And as to this point, we haven't been able to do that. And you see the aggressiveness that we're taking organizationally, I'm doing everything I can personally, whether that's moving around, mentoring younger guys as much as I possibly can. Asking guys who have won Super Bowls before ... what we can do. And I think that's really all that we can do and just keep putting our heads down and working."
Ramsey, acquired in a trade with Miami that sent Fitzpatrick back to the team that drafted him in the first round, expressed excitement about joining the Steelers in his first public comments since the deal.
"I'm excited for everything that has to do with this organization," Ramsey said Wednesday. "Obviously this is a storied franchise. I won a Super Bowl, love my time with the LA Rams, but I can't necessarily say that I've played for a storied franchise like this yet, so this is very exciting for me. I'm just embracing all of it."
Ramsey, though, was coy about his exact role with the Steelers, whether he'll stick at outside corner or move to safety or play slot corner.
"I just want to play football," he said. "I don't care where I'm at, corner, safety slot, but at the same time, I don't think I'm getting paid what I'm getting paid to not be in the position to affect the game and be in certain spots. So I'll just say that."
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Wednesday that Ramsey is "a football player first and a positional player second."
"We're going to start him regardless. Where we move him around and things really depends on what offenses are doing," he said. "Make no mistake -- those top three corners that I mentioned, Jalen Ramsey, [Darius] Slay and Joey Porter Jr. -- they're going to be on the field. I don't care what offenses come out in."