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Derek Watt

Derek Watt Announces Retirement

March 12th, 2024 at 7:27pm CST by Ben Levine

Derek Watt is calling it a career. The fullback announced on Instagram that he’s retiring from the NFL.

“It is with great honor and gratitude that I officially announce my retirement and the end to my career,” Watt wrote. “A career that ended up being about so much more than just the game that I love. The [seven] years with [two] great organizations, 110 career games, and lifelong friendships and memories that I’ve been fortunate enough to make have been nothing short of amazing.”

While he never hit the same career pinnacle as his brothers, J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt, Derek Watt still managed to put together a seven-year career. The former sixth-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career with the Chargers, garnering 47 touches in 64 games.

In 2020, he inked a three-year, $9.75MM deal to play alongside T.J. in Pittsburgh. Watt ended up getting into 46 games during his three seasons with the Steelers, including 34 over the past two years. He actually had a “career season” in 2022 from an offensive perspective, collecting 32 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

Watt also had a significant special teams role throughout his career, as he averaged more than 286 ST snaps per season. He finished his career with 61 tackles.

Contract Restructures: Panthers, Cowboys, Giants, Saints, Eagles, Steelers

March 10th, 2021 at 5:51pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It’s that time of year when teams are frantically maneuvering ahead of free agency. Due to the cap falling because of COVID-19, things are even more hectic than ever. We’ve seen a whole bunch of contract restructures come in, and there will be a whole lot more. Let’s catch you up on the latest batch and their financial implications:

  • The Panthers restructured Christian McCaffrey‘s contract recently, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. They converted $7MM of his $8MM base salary into a signing bonus, which freed up about $5.6MM in cap space for 2021. Almost a year ago McCaffrey signed his record-breaking extension that has him locked up through the 2025 season.
  • The Cowboys have had a busy week with Dak Prescott‘s massive extension now in the books, and they made a trio of moves to help clear some space. Dallas restructured the deals of Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and La’el Collins, a source told Todd Archer of ESPN.com. The reworking of the three offensive linemen’s contracts cleared up about $17MM in cap space for Jerry Jones. As Archer notes, these moves have now gotten Dallas under the cap for 2021.
  • The Giants just cut top offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler as they look to clear cap space to keep guys like defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson. The Zeitler release isn’t the only shuffling they’re doing, as they also restructured the contract of tight end Levine Toilolo, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweeted the details. Rather than a procedural restructure like you see with star players, Toilolo actually took a pay-cut to stay with the team. He had been scheduled to make $2.95MM this year but agreed to reduce that to $1.6MM, saving the Giants north of $1MM against the cap.
  • We’ve got four other restructures to pass along, courtesy of this tweet from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Saints restructured the deals of safety Malcolm Jenkins to save $3.4MM and offensive lineman Andrus Peat to save $6MM. New Orleans has the worst cap situation in the league, and they desperately needed moves like this to do things like franchise tag safety Marcus Williams.
  • The Eagles saved $2.4MM by reworking the deal of offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo. Philly is right up there with New Orleans in terms of bad cap situations, so GM Howie Roseman is likely far from done here.
  • The Steelers saved $880K by adjusting fullback Derek Watt‘s contract. Not exactly front page news here, but it should shore up Watt’s spot on the 2021 roster. T.J. and J.J.’s brother signed a three-year, $9.75MM pact last offseason.

Contract Details: Nassib, Alonso, Jefferson

March 17th, 2020 at 9:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Some more contract details from around the league:

  • DE Carl Nassib, Raiders: signed. Three-year, $25MM deal with $17MM guaranteed, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). The deal has a max value of $28MM.
  • LB Kiko Alonso, Saints: restructured contract. Base salary reduced from $6.4MM to $1.7MM, $4.7MM available in incentives. Already has $1.45MM roster bonus, meaning he can still hit his previous $7.85MM total via playing-time bonuses. All notes via ESPN’s Mike Triplett on Twitter.
  • DE Quinton Jefferson, Bills: two-year deal. Contract worth $13.5MM total, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano on Twitter.
  • FB Derek Watt, Steelers: signed. Three-year deal worth $9.75MM, according to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Twitter.
  • LB Kamu Grugier-Hill, Dolphins: one-year deal. Contract worth $3MM, including $2MM signing bonus, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Twitter. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that there’s up to $500K in playing time incentives.

Steelers To Sign FB Derek Watt

March 17th, 2020 at 4:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two of the three Watt brothers will now play for the Steelers. Fullback Derek Watt agreed to terms with Pittsburgh, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

A four-year Chargers contributor, the middle Watt brother will join T.J. Watt on the Steelers. This deal will pay Derek Watt $3.25MM per year, per Rapoport (on Twitter). T.J. is currently set to make $1.7MM this season. With the Steelers a lock to pick up T.J. Watt’s fifth-year option, it is certainly possible the two-time Pro Bowler will make less than the least accomplished of the NFL Watts this season.

Derek, 27, was a sixth-round Bolts pick in 2016 and has played special teams as well in his NFL career. Derek Watt, 27, played 123 snaps at fullback for the Bolts last season. While he only has 29 career touches, the Wisconsin product will likely be asked to play a key role on Pittsburgh’s special teams units.

The Watts will join another two-thirds brother tandem on the Steelers. The Edmundses — Terrell and Trey — are under contract with Pittsburgh for the 2020 season.

Draft Signings: Packers, Seahawks, Chargers

May 9th, 2016 at 8:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers have signed second-round pick Jason Spriggs, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes. The tackle from Indiana will earn just over $5MM on his four-year deal with nearly $3MM guaranteed. Spriggs is now the the fifth Packers draft pick to sign and only two rookies remain unsigned for Green Bay in first-round pick Kenny Clark and third-rounder Kyler Fackrell.

Here are the rest of today’s draft signings from round two and lower:

  • The Panthers announced the signing of second-round cornerback James Bradberry and seventh-round tight end Beau Sandland. Bradberry started his collegiate career at Arkansas State but finished up at Samford.
  • Derek Watt, former Wisconsin fullback-tight end and J.J. Watt‘s brother, signed his sixth-round rookie deal with the Chargers today, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Raiders announced the signing of seventh-round guard Vadal Alexander. Alexander is the first member of Oakland’s draft class to officially put pen to paper.
  • The Raiders also announced the signing of quarterback Connor Cook. The Michigan State product fell to Oakland in the fourth-round of last month’s draft.

Earlier Updates:

  • The Seahawks signed seventh-round pick Zac Brooks, as Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. All ten of Seattle’s draft picks have now signed.
  • The Chargers signed fourth-round linebacker Joshua Perry, as Jenna Laine tweets.
  • The Ravens have signed fourth-round cornerback Tavon Young, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • The Bengals announced (Twitter link) the signing of seventh-round safety Clayton Fejedelem.
  • The Cardinals signed three of their rookies in cornerback Brandon Williams, center Evan Boehm, and cornerback Harlan Miller (Twitter link).

AFC Notes: Broncos, Browns, Texans

April 19th, 2016 at 8:42pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Contract talks between the Broncos and franchise-tagged pass rusher Von Miller are going so poorly that the Super Bowl 50 MVP could consider holding out until November both this year and, if needed, in 2017, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Cole says that the Broncos’ current offer to Miller is worth only a little more per year than what the Giants gave the far less accomplished Olivier Vernon ($17MM) in free agency and doesn’t contain nearly enough guaranteed money for Miller’s liking.

Here’s more on Denver and a couple other AFC clubs:

  • Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez is working hard to take the reins in Denver, showing leadership, and impressing his teammates in the process, reports Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today (video link). “I can tell he wants to be a leader on this team. He wants to be our quarterback. He wants to be The Guy. And that’s the type of guy we need,” receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. Of course, early reviews aside, Sanchez is a long shot to win the Broncos’ starting job. The team could foil his plans to start by trading for the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick, adding a high-round draft pick, or signing free agents like Brian Hoyer or Ryan Fitzpatrick.
  • After the Browns released veteran defenders Karlos Dansby and Donte Whitner earlier this offseason, linebacker Paul Kruger worried about his own status with the team, he told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “Yeah I was definitely anticipating something,” the 30-year-old said. “Made me a little nervous, I’m not going to lie.” The Browns could still part with Kruger and save $5.3MM before June 1 or $6.5MM if he’s a post-June 1 cut, but they already have the third-most cap space in the league. Kruger, for his part, now expects to remain in the fold. “Those are discussions that I let my agent and those people take care of but hey, I’m here right now and this is where I’m planning on being come August,” he said. Kruger’s sack total plummeted from 11 in 2014 to 2.5 last season, though he still menaced opposing quarterbacks, finishing with the league’s fourth-most hurries (33).
  • The Texans will bring in Wisconsin fullback Derek Watt and Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams for Wednesday visits, reports Tania Ganguli of ESPN (Twitter links). Derek Watt is the brother of superstar Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt.
  • Wide receivers Cam Worthy and Saalim Hakim, offensive lineman James Brewer and defensive back Dax Swanson will partake in Browns minicamp this week as tryout players, tweets the team’s communications manager, Dan Murphy.