While the Pittsburgh Steelers have accomplished a lot this offseason, they still have several pressing matters they need to take care of. That includes signing T.J. Watt to a contract extension. He is entering the last year of his contract, and both Watt and the Steelers seem keen on getting a deal done. The details of that deal are the only holdup. Mike Florio thinks the two sides won’t figure something out anytime soon.
“Scale of 1-10, confidence a deal gets done before training camp,” Florio said Tuesday on his Pro Football Talk podcast. “Bengals and Trey Hendrickson, Steelers and T.J. Watt, Cowboys and Micah Parsons. Just give me a two for each one. Because I don’t have a whole lot of confidence any of these are getting done before training camp.”
It wouldn’t be surprising to see these contract negotiations drag out for another few months. Watt is likely looking for a massive contract, and the edge rusher market has gone up significantly this offseason. Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby both received huge deals that reset the market.
Giving that kind of money to one player can be daunting. The last time the Steelers signed Watt to a new deal, they made him the highest-paid player at his position. He could be looking for something similar again. That deal didn’t get done until right before the regular season started, too. History says that it could be a minute before Watt gets an extension.
During that same podcast, Chris Simms expressed some optimism that the Steelers and Watt could get a deal done sooner than that.
“T.J. Watt’s the one I do look at to go, ‘The contract’s not in the worst spot. The team had to know this is coming,'” Simms said. “It’s the last year, they gotta be somewhat ready for this.
“Do they wanna really do this and talk about this with Aaron Rodgers probably coming in and, ‘Here we go, we’re gonna try to make a run for this thing.’ I wouldn’t be shocked if they got like a week into training camp and they were like, ‘Come on. T.J., let’s go, let’s get him to work. We know we’re gonna pay him anyways. Let’s get it done, it’s easy.'”
The Steelers have always likely planned on extending Watt. He’s been the ultimate pro throughout his NFL career. Besides an injury-plagued 2022 season, he’s consistently been one of the best players in the league. He deserves to be paid as such.
Watt didn’t hold out during his last contract negotiations in 2021, but he did hold in. That didn’t affect his performance that season, though. He ended up tying the single-season sack record and winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Perhaps another big payday will spur Watt to have a similarly impactful season.
The Steelers could still drag negotiations out, though. Watt is set to turn 31 in October, and while he was still dominant last year, he seemed to take a slight step back. As a result, Pittsburgh might be a little hesitant about giving him a massive deal with a lot of guaranteed money.
It feels like the Steelers will eventually give Watt an extension. The only question is when that will happen. Whether that’s before, during, or after training camp, Watt will be ready to give it his all this season.
