I totally get what you're saying, don't think I don't but look at it like this:
They waited on all of those guys and were about to wait for Parsons before he started chirping (probably to get the Steelers to flinch so Jerry can get on with his humiliation ritual) before they broke out the check book.
We talk a lot of shit and call franchises stupid, and no doubt most of them are, but "Conventional Wisdom" isn't really winning ships anymore. Like, the last time a team did things "The right way" was probably the Pats vs the Failcans when you really think about it. Doing things "By the book" isn't how KC, Philly, LA have won superbowls this past decade and I think teams that keep doing this shit are going to keep being mired in mediocrity. IMO the Steelers are a mid team whether they have Watt or not. In my GM/Owner shoes, anytime a player 30 and over who doesn't have rings on his hand, is throwing a football, or both, is telling me they want to re-set the market for their position prior to the new CBA, I'm sending a contract over and if they don't like it they can walk.
As fans and fantasy owners this sounds crazy, but the current landscape of young talent coming in and players in pretty much every position asking for a team to revolve around them isn't sustainable if you don't have a QB, which the Steelers don't.
Like I said, I don't think it's buffoonish or silly, but that's crazy money coming Watt's way that would make sense if they were an actual dynasty holding on to who I would say is a top 5 defensive player; but when you have Nik Bonitto replicating his stats and still on a rookie deal, Jared Verse going in to year 2 looking like a killer on one end and Myles Garrett getting an absolutely absurd contract on the other end, I think you have to ask yourself "Are we even good enough to do be doing this shit and delaying a rebuild that is coming in 2026 whether we win a superbowl or not?"