T.J. Watt's 5th-Year Contract Option for 2021 Season Exercised by Steelers

Linebacker T.J. Watt will be with the Pittsburgh Steelers through at least the 2021 season after his fifth-year contract option was picked up. 

The Steelers announced Tuesday they exercised the final year of Watt's rookie deal. 

The move comes as no surprise because of Watt's performance and how diligent the Steelers have been about using the fifth-year option with the first-round draft picks. 

Per Curt Popejoy of Steelers Wire, cornerback Artie Burns and linebacker Jarvis Jones are the only Steelers players not to have their option picked up since the NFL adopted a rookie wage scale in 2011. 

Watt has become one of the best defensive players in the NFL over the past three seasons. The two-time Pro Bowler was the highest-graded edge defender (91.3) in the league during the 2019 season, per Pro Football Focus. 

He has recorded 34.5 sacks in 47 career games, including 14.5 in 2019. The Wisconsin native led the league with eight forced fumbles and set career-highs with 36 quarterback hits and eight passes defensed last season. 

Pittsburgh had the NFL's fifth-best defense in yards allowed per game (304.1) and points allowed per game (18.9) in 2019.