NFL insider points out why T.J. Watt's future with the Steelers is more complicated than it seems
T.J Watt has been the heart and soul of not only the defense but the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization for nearly a decade. But in those eight years, Watt has still yet to win a playoff game and is headed into the final year of his contract while amidst the latter portion of his prime. […]
T.J Watt has been the heart and soul of not only the defense but the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization for nearly a decade.
But in those eight years, Watt has still yet to win a playoff game and is headed into the final year of his contract while amidst the latter portion of his prime.
That has led many to wonder if Watt may quietly be on the trade market, but more reasonably, ponder exactly what the Steelers are planning to do with his contract….
Watt's next deal could be a long process
Will the Steelers make T.J. Watt the NFL's highest-paid defensive player … again?There's one year left on the extension that Watt — who had 11.5 sacks this past season — signed prior to the 2021 season, which made him the highest-paid defensive player in the league at that time (around $28 million per year). The best way for the Steelers to knock down Watt's team-high $30.4 million cap number is to extend his contract.But what does that extension look like, with Watt now 30 years old and in a market in which Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons could also want to set the top of the edge rusher market this offseason? The last Watt extension took until the day before the 2021 season started before it got finalized. (The current top of the market is $34 million annually, held by 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa.) Could this drag through the offseason?
– Dan Graziano, ESPN
Watt has no guaranteed salary left on his deal, meaning the Steelers could avoid that $30.4m cap hit that Graziano mentioned by either releasing or trading Watt this offseason, allocating an additional $21m to a cap situation that looks a lot better after Wednesday's big news.
But let's get real, the Steelers have no interest in releasing or trading a player who in what many believed to be a "down season" was named to his 7th Pro Bowl, made the All-Pro team, and finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, all while playing through a bad ankle during the last month of the season.
Yet, Graziano does pose a question that the Steelers brass is likely working through as you read this. Watt is undeniably a difference-maker and one of the best players in the league when healthy. But are you sure that you want to shelve out top-of-the-market money to a player who, while still in his prime, is over 30 and plays one of the most physical positions in the sport?
Every franchise has limits, even when they are as loyal as the Steelers, and even with players as great as Watt. And for T.J., asking for anything less than to be paid as the richest defender in the league would be a disservice to the tenure he's put in.
So both sides have their reasons. Last time, it took Watt stepping in and telling his agents to quit hassling with the front office just to get a deal done on the eve of the season.
We could see a similar scenario in the coming months.
