The ongoing contract standoff between the Steelers and star OLB T.J. Watt has an upcoming key deadline with the start of training camp in a little over a week. For now, Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly says there’s no anticipation that Watt will hold out of camp.
However, Kaboly says the two sides remain in a holding pattern regarding talks, with sticking points regarding the length of the deal, guarantees and total value — “basically everything” per Kaboly.
Kaboly also slightly backtracked on some other comments about the Steelers gauging the trade market for Watt, saying he was told the team has made no inquiries to other teams about trading him.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said recently that Watt and the Steelers remain far apart in talks and it is a situation other teams are monitoring.
“They’re far apart right now, and there have been other teams that have mulled the idea that maybe they would approach the Pittsburgh Steelers about a trade,” Schefter said via Steelers Wire. “Now, the Steelers have zero intention of trading him — but something has to give. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, ‘We want to keep this guy that badly’ and then be far apart in the contract.”
The booming market for NFL edge rushers has set Watt up to have a deal in the range of $40 million a year, but there appears to be some trepidation from the Steelers in signing an aging player to that kind of contract.
Patrick Rooney Jr., the grandson of Steelers owner Art Rooney, called paying Watt top-dollar “absolutely insane” because of his age. He’s not involved with the team’s decision-making in any way but it’s a notable opinion nonetheless.
“T.J. is a great player, great Steeler — insane to pay him anything right now,” Rooney said via Steelers Wire. “Absolutely insane. He’s 31 years old. But again, if you’re going all-in this year, then you’re going to have to re-sign him. You’re making moves right now that you’re trying to do something this year. That, to me, based on anything you’ve seen the last few years, seems insane.”
Watt, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Steelers back in 2017. He played out his four-year, $9.258 million contract and made a base salary of $1.72 million in 2020.
Pittsburgh exercised Watt’s fifth-year option for $10.089 million in 2021. He then signed a four-year extension worth over $112 million with the Steelers that included $80 million fully guaranteed at signing.
In 2024, Watt appeared in all 17 games and recorded 61 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, two recoveries, and four pass defenses.
We’ll have more on Watt as the news becomes available.
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