While everyone reporting today for Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College is excited about plethora of headline-stealing moves, the higher focus is on the team as a whole.

Specifically on the defensive side, there's pressure to meet high expectations after adding a number of high-profile players and signing their best player to a record contract extension.

"I'm just excited about this new team. There's so many new faces," T.J. Watt said Wednesday afternoon. "But the goal always remains the same. It's a new year, it's a fresh start across the league. Everybody looks good on paper this time of year, but it's all about what we do over the next couple of weeks here in preparation."

Watt might one of the few who really appreciate the work Omar Khan has done this offseason to upgrade the roster. Watt's first NFL season was in 2017, which was the year the streak of seasons without a playoff win began. Perhaps only Cam Heyward has more urgency to not just win a playoff game, but truly compete for a Super Bowl.

"Our goal is to win a Super Bowl," Khan said Wednesday. "So, we're building this team to win a Super Bowl this year."

Part of the business Khan had to take care of this offseason was extending Watt, which came to fruition just days before players reported today for training camp. Not only did the two sides get the deal done, but it also made Watt the highest-pad non-quarterback in the NFL.

As flattering as that was to Watt, the timing of the contract might have been more important.

"I just wanted the deal to get done," Watt said. "Obviously, I'm happy it got done before training camp, just to be able to be here, to eliminate any potential distractions and just worry about football."

Even without Watt's contract getting done, the Steelers would have already had the highest-paid defense in the NFL. Watt's contract, along with heavy-hitting moves such as acquiring Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, solidifies the fair expectation that this has to be one of the best units in the league.

"We've gotta be the best we can be. That's a lot of money on defense. The biggest thing is going out and proving it every single game," Patrick Queen said. "I don't think it's pressure, I think it's motivation. Knowing that you're the highest-paid defense, why not go out and prove it?"

As players reported to training camp today, the shared mindset seemed to be a very business-like approach. There were no gags or costumes as players showed up. It looked like a determined group of players, whether it was newcomer such as Ramsey or Cory Trice Jr., who has much more to prove.

That's, ultimately, what the overarching focus seems to be. Watt himself talked about how it's certainly exciting to see guys such as Ramsey and Slay join the defense. But, he also stressed the importance of other guys, specifically naming Trice, proving themselves in this environment.

It'll be a very stressful environment. Forecasted temperatures for the very first practice will bring 90-plus-degree heat into the valley in which Chuck Noll Field sits. Throughout the team-building process, physicality will be tested and demanded.

For the defense to truly achieve its goal of not only being one of the most physical but one of the very best in the NFL, they'll need more than star players to get it done. They'll need players such as Trice proving their worth as depth. They'll need lower-profile new guys such as Juan Thornhill showing that he can hold down centerfield as the primary free safety.

They'll also need to iron out a lot of details. Watt talked about some "cool packages" in which he could move around more often. Mike Tomlin talked up the ability to match any offense man-to-man by having the trio of Joey Porter Jr., Slay and Ramsey at cornerback. In fact, he stressed the need to have such players in today's NFL, and poured water on any need to define each player's role.

"They're coverage people," Tomlin said. "Describe them however you want to describe them."

But outside of the Xs and Os, this training camp also seems to be a time in which the aggressive moves made by the front office is matched by the play on the field. The playoff loss to the Ravens didn't just force change in the front office, but created urgency on the defense to not allow such a performance to happen again.

"Especially on the defensive side of the ball, teams need to understand when they come to Pittsburgh, when they play the Steelers, it's a certain brand of football," Watt said. "It's getting back to being a really hard-nosed team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Setting hard goals and sticking to them. Teams need to know what's coming when they see the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Not to say they haven't in the past or we haven't take pride in it, but I think it's something we can definitely talk more about openly about our goals as a defensive unit and hold each other accountable."

That's spoken like a true Steeler for life. And, after signing his new contract extension, Watt is right there with Heyward as the current embodiment of the Steeler way. The foundation for the 2025 version of that will be laid right here over the next three weeks on the grass of Chuck Noll Field.

With an all-business approach to camp, along with a thirst for more physicality, this seems to be a very Steelers way of doing training camp.