Many thought the controversy would end for the Pittsburgh Steelers after they finally signed Aaron Rodgers. However, they now have another big issue to deal with: T.J. Watt’s contract extension.
The star linebacker is entering the final year of his deal and, as expected, he wants his salary to be updated to reflect the level of performance he has shown with the team. Additionally, Myles Garrett has reset the market by receiving a new contract from the Browns worth $40 million per season.
This has put the Steelers at a crossroads: give a “quarterback contract” to a 30-year-old defensive player, or listen to those trade rumors that could bring them valuable draft capital ahead of the 2026 season.
Are the Steelers going to trade TJ Watt?
At the moment, the Steelers have no intention of trading T.J. Watt, but the big problem is that a contract extension deal doesn’t seem close. All of this is happening just two weeks before the start of training camp.
According to the latest report from Adam Schefter, both sides are still far from finding common ground, but what is currently off the table is a possible holdout from the player.
“That’s a long way away (a possible holdout). I’m not ready to say anything like that right now. If we get to August and it’s still not resolved, well, that becomes a little bit more interesting. If it gets to September, that’s a big problem. There’s a lot of time to work these things out and even though the sides might be far apart right now, I still think that somehow, with his importance to that franchise, they’ll figure out a way to get this done at some point in time. If not, other teams are waiting. They’re far apart right now and there have been other teams that have mulled the idea that maybe they would approach the Steelers about it.”
Will TJ Watt sign contract extension with Steelers?
Although everything seems to indicate that T.J. Watt will eventually get a contract extension from the Steelers, Schefter did not rule out the possibility of a trade if both sides fail to reach an agreement.
“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. So, that’s up to those two sides to figure out how to resolve that.”