The Pittsburgh Steelers made star outside linebacker T.J. Watt the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player on Thursday, signing him to a pact that will keep the perennial All-Pro in black-and-gold well into his 30s.

Watt, who was entering the final season of the four-year extension he signed in 2021, is scheduled to make $123 million over the course of the three-year agreement, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

Watt appeared to celebrate by making a rare Instagram post on Thursday afternoon, sharing a picture of him flexing in his signature No. 90 jersey. Watt also posted a photo in his Instagram stories of him posing alongside protégé and third-year Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig.

The average annual value of $41 million eclipses the previous record contract for a defender set by Cleveland defensive lineman and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett in March.

The value also eclipses the average salary of Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who became the league’s highest-paid non-QB after agreeing to a new contract worth $40.25 million a season.

The fact that Watt’s extension is worth 2.5% more per season than Garrett’s (whose overall total value of $204 million is still higher than Watt’s) is not a coincidence. Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, has long believed he is the best edge rusher in the NFL.

For the second time in four years, he’s being paid like it.

Miller signing with Commanders

Von Miller is signing with the Washington Commanders, with the NFL’s active sacks leader joining the team roughly a week before training camp opens.

Miller and the team have agreed on a one-year contract, according to a person familiar with the deal.

“DC... What’s good?” Miller posted on social media with an automated image of himself in a No. 24 Commanders unform.

The 36-year-old edge rusher felt like he still had more to give after getting released by Buffalo in a salary cap-saving move in March. Injuries derailed his time with the Bills, limiting him to 11, 12 and 13 games each of the past three seasons.

Miller had six sacks last year to reach 129 1/2 in his professional career, which began with nearly a decade with Denver when he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. He helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl and was MVP of that game, then won it again in the 2021 season with the Rams.

Chiefs’ Rice gets 30 days in jail

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail after authorities said he and another speeding driver caused a chain-reaction crash that left multiple people injured on a Dallas highway last year.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury in the March 30, 2024, crash. As part of a plea agreement, Rice was sentenced to five years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation, prosecutors said.

The judge will allow Rice, 25, to find a time or times to serve the jail sentence, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors said he was also required to pay the victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses, which totaled about $115,000.

Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph (191 kph) when he made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck other vehicles, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that after the crash on North Central Expressway, Rice failed to check on the welfare of those in the other vehicles and fled on foot.