T.J. Watt Named 2021 Defensive Player Of The Year

Steelers OLB T.J. Watt was named the Associated Press 2021 Defensive Player of the Year Thursday night at the NFL Honors show.

22.5 sacks.@_TJWatt is the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year! #NFLHonors (by @CastrolUSA) pic.twitter.com/5gJWkCnSmd

— NFL (@NFL) February 11, 2022

Here’s the vote total for this award:

• Steelers OLB T.J. Watt: 42
• Cowboys LB Micah Parsons: 3
• Rams DT Aaron Donald: 3

Watt, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Steelers back in 2017. He played out his four-year, $9.258 million contract and made a base salary of $1.72 million in 2020.

Pittsburgh exercised Watt’s fifth-year option last offseason for $10.089 million in 2021. He then signed a four-year extension worth over $112 million with the Steelers that included $80 million fully guaranteed at signing.

In 2021, Watt appeared in 15 games for the Steelers and recorded 64 tackles, 22.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, three recoveries and seven pass deflections.