3 reasons Steelers shouldn’t sign J.J. Watt this offseason

J.J. Watt just became available, but here are the three reasons the Steelers should not sign him this offseason. 

After his recent release from the Texans, rumors have surfaced that the Steelers could be interested in signing J.J. Watt. While adding the former All-Pro to an already stacked line and playing all three Watt brothers on one team sounds appealing, the more you look into this the less it makes sense. Here are the three reasons the Steelers won’t sign Watt.

The cost may be too great

This is a big issue, as the team has next to no cap space no matter where the NFL cap number ends up coming in at. While moves will be made to get cap compliant, they won’t have the money to throw at Watt that other teams have. He is coming off of a deal that paid him over $16.5 million dollars a season. While he won’t get that on the open market, it is likely he could get $6-8 million a year on the open market. Even if he took a bit of a discount to play with his brothers (not likely), it would still be for a number the team can’t really afford.

The only realistic number he would work at is the veteran minimum. If he is willing to play for that, I would be all for bringing him in. That said, it would be extremely surprising and unwise for Watt to take such a deal. While playing with his brothers would certainly be unique, this is still a job for him. The idea that he would willingly take a cheaper salary just to play with them is ludicrous. His career is winding down and he will likely want to maximize his last few years. He wouldn’t be doing that if he was on the Steelers.