Trent Jordan Watt (born October 11, 1994) is an American professional football outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers for four years. After redshirting his freshman year, Watt injured his knee in his sophomore year, keeping him out until the 2015 season. Watt broke out in 2016, recording 11.5 sacks and receiving various collegiate honors. After foregoing his last year of college eligibility, Watt was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.
Watt played in at least 15 games each of his first five seasons with the Steelers, before injuries limited him to 10 games in 2022. In 2021, he recorded 22.5 sacks to match the single-season NFL record set by Michael Strahan in 2001, surpassed by Myles Garrett in 2025. Watt became the second fastest player in NFL history to record 100 sacks, behind Reggie White. He was a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award five times (2019–2021, 2023, 2024), winning in 2021. He is the younger brother of three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. J. Watt and former fullback Derek Watt.
Early life Trent Jordan Watt was born on October 11, 1994, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. He is the youngest of three sons of Connie and John Watt. His father was a firefighter for more than 25 years and his mother was the vice president of an independent inspections company. He attended Pewaukee High School, and was rated a three-star prospect by various recruiting services. While playing for the Pirates, Watt received first-team All-Conference honors at four different positions (defensive end, tight end, quarterback and punter). He would later have his number retired. Watt also participated in track and field in high school, and was the 2013 state champion in the shot put.
College career
Watt enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2013, starting his college career as a tight end for the Wisconsin Badgers. He was redshirted in 2013 and missed the entire 2014 season due to a knee injury.
In July 2015, Watt was asked by head coach Paul Chryst to switch to a defensive position as a redshirt sophomore. Badgers' outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar recalled Watt's position change, saying, "At that time, even though he was in his third fall at Wisconsin, it was kind of like having a freshman come in. You're trying to teach him for the first time how to play outside 'backer in our system." Watt had not played in a football game since October 2012, during his senior year of high school. He played in all 13 games for the Badgers in 2015, posting four solo tackles, four assisted tackles, and three pass breakups.
After the fourth game of his junior season in 2016, he led the Big Ten Conference in sacks. In the Michigan State game, he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week and was given the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week Award. Overall in 2016, Watt recorded 63 total tackles and 11.5 sacks. Additionally, he recorded an interception and a defensive touchdown during the Badgers' game against Purdue. Watt also received first-team All-American honors by Sports Illustrated and second-team honors by the Associated Press for his play during the 2016 season.T. J. Watt official player profile on steelers.com. Retrieved March 1, 2026 On November 29, 2016, he was named first-team All-Big Ten. On January 3, 2017, Watt announced on Twitter that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2017 NFL draft.
During his time at Wisconsin, Watt majored in retailing and consumer behavior. He received Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2015 and 2016.
Professional career Pre-draft Watt received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine as one of the top edge rushers in the draft and completed all the combine drills. Among linebackers, Watt finished second in the vertical jump and three-cone drill, tied for first in the broad jump (with Jabrill Peppers), and also tied for first in the short shuttle. He attended Wisconsin's pro day, along with Dare Ogunbowale, Vince Biegel, Corey Clement, Sojourn Shelton, and six other teammates. Green Bay Packers' general manager Ted Thompson and Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin were among the 65 team representatives and scouts present for his pro day as Steelers' linebacker's coach Joey Porter, Carolina Panthers' and New York Jets' outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene led Watt's positional drills. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected Watt to be a late first round or second round pick. He was ranked the second best outside linebacker in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, ranked the fourth best outside linebacker by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, and was ranked the ninth best edge rusher by Sports Illustrated. ESPN also ranked Watt the 44th best prospect available in the 2017 draft.
2017
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Watt in the first round with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. Watt was the fourth linebacker selected and the second outside linebacker. He was also the fourth linebacker taken in the first round by the Steelers since . On June 14, 2017, the Steelers signed Watt to a fully guaranteed, four-year, $9.25 million contract with a signing bonus of $4.87 million. Despite his collegiate number 42 being available and the NFL allowing linebackers to wear jersey numbers in the 40s two years prior, Watt instead opted for number 90, feeling at the time he could fill out the number better as an outside linebacker than 42 as well as it being a more traditional number for a linebacker.
He entered training camp competing with James Harrison for the starting right outside linebacker position. Watt was named the Steelers' starting right outside linebacker to begin the regular season. Watt saw action in the NFL for the first time in the team's first preseason game against the New York Giants, where he made two sacks in the 20–12 victory.
Watt made his professional regular season debut and first NFL start in the Steelers' season-opener against the Cleveland Browns on September 10, 2017, where he recorded seven combined tackles, two sacks, and intercepted a pass from quarterback DeShone Kizer, as the Steelers won by a score of 21–18. He became the first rookie to start at linebacker for the Steelers since Aaron Jones in . The following week, he assisted on two tackles before leaving during the first half of the Steelers' 26–9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings with a groin injury. Due to the groin injury he sustained against the Vikings, Watt was declared out for Week 3 against the Chicago Bears. On October 22, 2017, Watt had six combined tackles and sacked Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, his fourth of the season, during the Steelers' 29–14 victory. On December 10, 2017, Watt recorded his first career forced fumble when he sacked Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco with 10 seconds remaining in the game. The ball went out of bounds, but the game clock continued to run. Both teams seemed unaware of this until referees declared that the game was over. Watt finished his rookie season with 54 combined tackles (40 solo), seven pass deflections, seven sacks, one forced fumble, and an interception in 15 games. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
The Steelers finished atop the AFC North with a 13–3 record and earned a playoff berth. On January 14, 2018, Watt started his first NFL playoff game and recorded two combined tackles and deflected a pass in a 45–42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the American Football Conference (AFC) Divisional Round.
2018
Watt entered training camp slated as a starting left outside linebacker. Head coach Mike Tomlin named Watt and Bud Dupree, who was now on the right side, the starting outside linebackers to begin the season.
Watt started in the season-opener at the Browns and recorded a season-high ten combined tackles (seven solo), three sacks, and blocked a field goal, the first of his career, during overtime in a 21–21 tie. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. On October 7, 2018, Watt recorded eight combined tackles, tied his season-high of three sacks, and forced a fumble in the Steelers' 41–17 win against the Atlanta Falcons. His performance earned him his second AFC Defensive Player of the Week award of the year. On November 18, he had two strip sacks of Blake Bortles during a 20–16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He later replicated his performance during December 30's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In the same game, Watt recorded four solo tackles with three assisted tackles as the Steelers won their final game of the season with a score of 16–13.
He started in all 16 games in 2018 and recorded 68 combined tackles (50 solo), 13 sacks, six forced fumbles, and three pass deflections. He was named to his first ever Pro Bowl following the season. After the season, Watt was ranked 93rd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2019
In Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, Watt recorded six tackles and made his first sack of the season on Russell Wilson in the 28–26 loss. In Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers, Watt had an interception off Jimmy Garoppolo, and also recorded a fumble recovery in the 24–20 loss. In Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins, Watt recorded two sacks on Ryan Fitzpatrick, one of which was a strip sack that he forced and recovered, in the 27–14 win. For his performance in November, Watt earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month. In Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals, Watt recorded an interception in the end zone off a pass thrown by Kyler Murray during the 23–17 win.
By the end of his third season, Watt had established himself as one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL, tallying an AFC-high 14.5 sacks, along with tying Chandler Jones for the league lead with eight forced fumbles. He was named to the Pro Bowl. He was voted Team MVP by his teammates, being the first defensive player to win the award since Troy Polamalu in 2010. Watt was voted All-Pro as both edge rusher (1st Team) and linebacker (2nd Team). He was also nominated for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, finishing third in voting. Following the season, Watt was ranked 25th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.
2020
On March 17, 2020, the Steelers signed Watt's older brother Derek, putting the two brothers on the same team. On April 28, 2020, the Steelers exercised the fifth-year option on Watt's contract.
In Week 1 against the Giants, Watt recorded an interception off a pass thrown by Daniel Jones during the Steelers 26–16 win. In Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, Watt recorded 2.5 sacks on Jeff Driskel during the 26–21 win. He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 2. On October 1, 2020, Watt was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In week 10 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Watt recorded two sacks on rookie quarterback Joe Burrow during the 36–10 win. In Week 12 against the Baltimore Ravens, Watt recorded two sacks on Robert Griffin III during the 19–14 win. Watt was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for his performance in November. In Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts, Watt recorded two sacks on Philip Rivers, including a strip sack that was recovered by teammate Mike Hilton, during the 28–24 comeback win. On December 31, 2020, for the second straight season, Watt was voted Team MVP by his teammates.