T.J. Watt didn’t want the distraction of contract negotiations to hover over his ninth training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Armed with an extension agreed to last week that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, the 30-year-old outside linebacker couldn’t wait to report Wednesday to Saint Vincent.

Watt’s optimism, he insisted, had nothing to do with his inflated bank account.

“All the new faces,” Watt said. “I wasn’t here over the summer, so there are a lot of people to get to know and to talk to. … It’s a fun time of the year. I’m excited to be back in Latrobe.”

Watt’s contract — he will make $144.05 million over the next four seasons — was the last piece of business accomplished by general manager Omar Khan in arguably the busiest offseason in recent memory.

Change was promised after the Steelers lost a playoff opener for the fifth time since 2017, falling to the Baltimore Ravens, 28-14, while yielding 299 yards rushing. None of those playoff defeats was aesthetically pleasing from a defensive standpoint, and none was competitive after halftime.

Watt was on the field for four of those losses, and he’s still searching for that elusive initial postseason victory.

“It’s the endless pursuit of it,” Watt said. “It’s wanting to continue to do everything possible, turning over every stone. As to this point, we haven’t been able to do that. You see the aggressiveness that we’re taking organizationally.”

Since that playoff loss in January, the Steelers have replaced nine starters, 16 players overall from that game-day roster. Khan traded for star wide receiver DK Metcalf in March, drafted Derrick Harmon to start on the defensive line in April and traded away mercurial pass catcher George Pickens in May. Khan kicked off June by signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers and ended it by getting cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith in a deal with Miami that included safety Minkah Fitzpatrick going to the Dolphins.

Along the way, Khan and coach Mike Tomlin added cornerback Darius Slay and safety Juan Thornhill and brought quarterback Mason Rudolph back to the organization.

“We lay out a plan,” Khan said of the offseason turnover. “Coming off last year, being disappointed with the way it ended, we had a vision of what we wanted this team to look like. To say we laid out a plan and everything happened 100%, it wouldn’t be honest of me to say that.

“We think it came together pretty nicely.”

Some of the returning players were surprised by the number of transactions Khan made in the offseason, particularly the deals that brought Metcalf, Rodgers and Ramsey into the fold.

“Nobody ever expects big moves to happen,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said, “but you also want your team to push for those big moves. Sometimes, they come at a cost, and you lose great people. But you also gain great people.”

The Ramsey-Smith trade reinforced the Steelers’ commitment to ending their playoff misery.

“There is urgency,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “We have to get started now. We have to have urgency throughout the season. With the type of team, we can compete for a Super Bowl, and that’s what we have to do.”

Watt is looking forward to the bonding sessions that take place in training camp. The Steelers remain one of the few NFL teams to go away for a few weeks every summer. Watt joked he will be stuck with the tab when the players gather for wings at a local restaurant.

“I’ll be picking up the check for quite some time, I’m sure,” he said. “I’ve got no problem with that.”

Watt boycotted the mandatory three-day minicamp, although he didn’t see his absence as much of an issue. In 2021, when he was negotiating his first mega-contract, he attended minicamp but did individual work on the side while teammates took part in practice.

“It was staying in my routine,” he said. “Guys here understand how I train back home. They understand I’m working, I’m not sitting on the couch the whole time. I always come in prepared. I think you’ll see that throughout the weeks. I’ve trained as hard as I ever have so I come in prepared.”

Watt endorsed the Steelers using their first-round draft pick and a fifth-rounder to address the defensive line, the addition of another outside linebacker in Jack Sawyer and the organization’s stated commitment to become a more physical defensive team. Even some of the additions on offense, such as Metcalf, were done with physicality in mind.

“It’s getting back to being a really hard-nosed football team, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Watt said. “It’s setting hard goals and sticking to them. Teams need to know what is coming when they see the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Not to say they haven’t seen it in the past or we haven’t taken pride in it, but it’s something we can talk more openly about as a goal for our defensive unit and holding ourselves accountable.”

And perhaps win in the postseason for the first time since the Steelers reached the AFC championship game after the 2016 season.

“We can sit here and talk and talk about not winning a playoff game, and how much I want to do it,” Watt said, “but at the end of the day, it’s just lip service. It’s about what we do, and that’s why I’m excited to be back here.”

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