The ship has sailed Steelers adding J.J. Watt to their roster

It doesn't seem to matter what stage of his career he was in or how retired he currently is. One way or another, Pittsburgh Steelers fans are still going to dream about the idea of having J.J. Watt play alongside T.J. in Pittsburgh. This was always a pipedream at best. Now the odds of this happening are essentially non-existent. Yet, rumors are swirling as if something is in the works.

Recently, J.J. Watt and Mike Tomlin had a brief interaction on Twitter. Watt clearly showed respect for how Tomlin does business so he told the Steelers head coach that he would love to come visit the facility, to which Tomlin replied that he is welcome to do so.

Now, all of a sudden, the rumor mill is churning -- perhaps based on this interaction or mere speculation. The NFL Rumors account on Twitter writes that many believe Watt will either join the Steelers or the Green Bay Packers if he comes out of retirement.

Connecting Watt to these teams isn't a stretch. The two-year contract that he signed with the Cardinals in 2021 was terminated, so if he does decide to come back, he's free to choose whichever team will have him.

Watt has obvious connections with Green Bay due to his hometown roots in Wisconsin, so this checks out. Likewise, having T.J. in Pittsburgh and being an avid fan of Coach Tomlin suggests that he would enjoy coming to Pittsburgh. The big question here is if he comes out of retirement.

Steelers aren't getting J.J. Watt to unretire

I don't doubt that the Pittsburgh Steelers might be the frontrunner if Watt decided to come out of retirement. But why would he? Since hanging up his cleats and making an official retirement announcement from the NFL, Watt is doing exactly what you would expect any multi-millionaire to do: living it up and traveling the world.

Watt recently shut down any idea of returning. On an episode of Pardon My Take, Watt insisted that he has no intentions of coming back to the league in 2023. That would include playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We are talking about a player who's had numerous surgeries and a ton of wear and tear on his body over the years. Now that the 34-year-old has had a taste of retired life, what incentive would he have to come back and risk serious injury? Watt is already one of the richest defensive players in NFL history, so I'm pretty sure that money wouldn't be a key motivator at this point.

Perhaps Watt just loves the game so much that he simply can't stay away. However, I have a hard time believing that this will be the case. Every player must come to the realization that it's time to call it quits one day, and that time has come for J.J. Watt.

The connection between the Watt brothers and the Pittsburgh Steelers was certainly a fun thought and a routinely-visited hypothetical. However, it was a pipedream from the start, and we can call it that now -- regardless of what so-called 'rumors' would have to say.