The Pittsburgh Steelers are making headlines for the wrong reasons. First, they are still waiting to hear from QB Aaron Rodgers on whether he will sign with the Steelers or retire. Second, they haven’t come to an agreement on a contract extension with OLB T.J. Watt, who is in the final year of his deal. The Steelers need to resolve these two issues, but analyst Dave Dameshek believes the Rodgers situation may be turning Watt off to signing an extension.
“The loudest voice of all is the voice that is saying nothing, and that is T.J. Watt,” said Dameshek on the WDVE morning show yesterday. “T.J. Watt, I don’t know, maybe it’s just a money thing. But I think it’s plausible that T.J. Watt is kind of looking at this and saying, ‘I just don’t want to be a part of this. This is clownish stuff. I thought the Steelers were one thing, it turns out they’re more like the Browns and Jets, and I would just as soon move on from all of this mess.'”
Dameshek has a point. Watt turns 31 years old in October and still hasn’t won a playoff game. The Steelers don’t look any closer to changing that, let alone winning a Super Bowl. Teammates like OLB Alex Highsmith say Watt wants to stay in Pittsburgh, but we also know how important winning is to Watt. That could matter when Watt makes a decision on whether to sign an extension.
Would Rodgers make the Steelers better in 2025? Yes. But, Aaron Rodgers in 2025 isn’t moving the team any closer to winning a Super Bowl. This is one reason why Dameshek is against the Rodgers signing and thinks Watt might be too.
“Realistically, Aaron Rodgers ain’t gettin’ them to no Super Bowl this year,” said Dameshek. “I think everybody gets that besides maybe Aaron Rodgers and definitely Mike Tomlin…So then maybe they draft a rookie next year, and optimistically, he works out and he’s great and everything else. But there’s never been a rookie who takes his team to the Super Bowl, so it’s not going to happen next year.
“So the next shot, realistically, that T.J. Watt has of getting to a Super Bowl is 2027. And at that point, he’s 33, and at that point, Cam Heyward retired a year or two ago. What are we doing? This is absurdity!”
This is why it would make sense for Watt to pass on a contract extension and test free agency. With Rodgers, in the best-case scenario, the Steelers are three years away from winning a Super Bowl, and that is only if their recent draft picks all hit and they draft another Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback next year. More realistically, Pittsburgh is at least five years away from Super Bowl contention.
Not only do the Steelers need to hit on a quarterback, an extremely difficult task, but they also need to retool their aging defense and acquire more talent at skill positions. The good news is the Steelers have a ton of draft capital next year to make some of this happen. Additionally, some young skill position players already look promising. But, turning around an aging roster with no quarterback in three years is a long shot.
While Watt is a fan favorite and a historically great player, Dameshek makes valid points. The Steelers seem more focused on prying open a shut Super Bowl window than stepping back and building for when it’s ready to open again.
That doesn’t mean the Steelers shouldn’t extend Watt. He’s a homegrown superstar and is a cornerstone of the Steelers’ culture, which matters. Rodgers, on the other hand, would be a short-term mercenary whose presence could have long-term side effects. The potential short-term gain is simply not worth the cost.
The Watt and Rodgers situations will be major storylines to follow the rest of the offseason. The most likely scenario is that Rodgers signs and Watt agrees to an extension. While this would put Dameshek’s concerns about Watt re-signing to bed, it wouldn’t change the fact that Pittsburgh’s current plan to win a Super Bowl seems absurd.
