Another playoff appearance, another loss for Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
In the 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night, Watt was held off the stats sheet once again, failing to record any traditional statistic for the second week in a row. Though he had four pressures, Watt missed two tackles and wasn’t effective at all.
That’s led to some criticism of the second-team All-Pro in the days following the loss, and it even had longtime Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly questioning on 93.7 The Fan Monday morning if Watt even wanted to be with the Steelers at this point since they can’t get over the hump in the postseason.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Watt shot down any notion that his future with the Steelers is tenuous with the eighth-year veteran entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and due for an extension this offseason.
“I want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. You guys know that. I don’t want to leave this place, especially in this (state),” Watt said, according to a tweet from The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo. “I want to be part of the solution. I’ve put so much into it here. I’ve seen so many guys. I want to help Cam Heyward get to where we need to get. I want to be part of the solution. I don’t want to leave this place. I love the people here, and that goes beyond just the coaches. It’s the fan base, it’s the people, the community.
“We owe it to them to get it right. And I want to be part of the solution. Not leave here, go somewhere else.”
The 2024 season was rather challenging for Watt. He dealt with the league’s highest volume of chips as a pass rusher, drawing the most attention of any defender in the league based on Pro Football Focus’ metrics. That limited his production and overall impact.
On the year, Watt finished with 11.5 sacks and led the league with six forced fumbles, but he had just 53 pressures and really wasn’t as dominant as he was last season. Teams found a way to scheme against him and have some success. Watt also dealt with injuries, including an ankle injury that may have slowed him down the stretch.
Putting up goose eggs in the stats category in back-to-back weeks to close the season is something Watt has never done, and it came at a bad time. That has Watt putting the onus on himself to be better.
“Obviously I’m very frustrated with how things ended and that’s not just with the last game, that’s with the last month of football and it’s a collection of things and it starts with myself, and I need to play better,” Watt said, according to video via Kaboly on Twitter. “We need to play better. There’s not one thing that needs to be fixed either.
“There’s a lot of things, but it starts internally with myself and needing to play better in bigger moments, and it’ll be a long offseason to have to sit with that.”
Despite frustration with his performance and the team’s late-season collapse, Watt wants to remain a Steeler. He’s not running from the fight, he’s running to it. He knows he needs to be better, and he can’t ask for more from the rest of the team without asking for more from himself.
So, while reporters like Kaboly tried to speculate that Watt might want out, the face of the franchise quickly shot that down, as expected. He’s frustrated across the board with his own performance, the team’s struggles late in the season and its inability to figure things out in the postseason, but he’s not going to tuck tail and run and ask out.
