With under three weeks before the start of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for the Pittsburgh Steelers, things don’t seem to be in a good place between the organization and star pass rusher T.J. Watt.
Watt is reportedly not pleased with the stall in contract talks, and other reports indicate that the guarantee language within a potential Watt deal could be the hold-up, especially with Watt wanting to be the highest-paid non-QB in the league.
That’s led to plenty of speculation regarding Watt’s future in the Steel City. The Steelers and Watt both want to get a deal done and remain tighter for the rest of Watt’s career. For FS1’s Emmanuel Acho though, it’s questionable to pay Watt.
“I can’t say you shouldn’t consider it because ultimately you’re gonna end up paying T.J. Watt $160 million for the next four years, at least, ’cause he deserves all of it, but are the Steelers actually gonna win anything?” Acho said of Watt being paid by the Steelers. “…You have to start the season with T.J. Watt, ’cause I’m curious how good are y’all capable of being? But if you start the season with T.J. Watt and you’re two and six at the trade deadline, maybe you say to yourself, ‘let me try to go get two second round picks and let me move off the rest of that salary.’
“Because if I can’t win with Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay, and Aaron Rodgers and all these people, I’m not winning with a rookie quarterback next year.”
Just a few months ago, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett reset the pass rusher market financially with his four-year, $160 million deal with the Browns. That came just a few days after Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby received a three-year, $105 million deal to reset the market.
Watt has had better numbers than both over the last two seasons and has been arguably better than both throughout his career, too. So, he’s in line for a huge payday. The only real concern is his age as he’s entering his age 31 season. He seemed to slow don late last year, going without a single statistic in the regular season finale and the Wild Card Round loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
He’s been banged up in recent years, too, making questions about his age and his ability to stay healthy moving forward are valid.
Throughout the offseason, the Steelers have clearly been gearing up to try and compete for a Super Bowl in 2025. The additions of Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith signals that. Not paying Watt and having him potentially hold out or request a trade would negate everything the Steelers have done this offseason. He’s a franchise pillar, a legacy player, and a future Hall of Famer. They’ll eventually work something out, but Acho raises a great question of if the Steelers will actually win anything by paying Watt.
If they don’t in 2025, the Steelers are going to likely be rolling with a young QB in 2026 as they have a great deal of draft capital to try and find the future franchise signal caller in the draft. The team’s core is aging, too, so a reset could be coming. Would it be wise to have a 30-plus year old pass rusher on a huge contract for a team that might need to rebuild?
On paper, that doesn’t seem the smartest. Watt is different though, and should be treated as such. We’ll see how long it takes to get done, but indications are it will get done between Watt and the Steelers. For now, the waiting continues.
