As mandatory minicamp for the Pittsburgh Steelers came and went, one of the biggest storylines aside from Aaron Rodgers was T.J. Watt’s absence. It was a surprising move, as many expected Watt to be present but not participate by doing a hold in while waiting for a contract extension.
Instead, he chose not to attend at all. While many are quick to point the finger at Watt, Omar Khan and the Steelers front office aren’t much better, as this situation could have been avoided altogether.
Smart teams try and get ahead of the market and sign new deals early, especially when it is a premium position like edge rusher.
The more this drags out, the pricier Watt becomes for the Pittsburgh Steelers
The moment the Steelers' season ended, extending T.J. Watt should have been their top priority. They had the chance to get ahead of the curve and be the first team to secure their star pass rusher before the market exploded. Instead, they waited. Maxx Crosby signed a deal worth 35.5 million dollars per year, followed by Danielle Hunter at 35.6 million dollars.
Then came the shocker. Myles Garrett, who initially wanted out of Cleveland, signed a massive four-year, 160 million extension, averaging 40 million per year. The Browns reset the entire market for elite pass rushers, and now players like T.J. Watt, Trey Hendrickson, and Micah Parsons will all be aiming to top that number.
If the Steelers had acted sooner, they could have signed Watt to a deal closer to Crosby’s, well below the new 40 million per year benchmark. Now, they will almost certainly have to meet or exceed that figure.
After Garrett’s extension, another option, though unlikely, would have been to trade Watt. At 30 years old and not getting any younger, he could have brought back significant draft capital to help with a rebuild. That is something Pittsburgh probably needs but was never going to commit to, especially not by moving on from Watt.
Now the Steelers are locked in on paying their franchise sack leader, and they should. He is the heart of the team. Without him on the field, the Steelers are among the worst teams in the league. The team has the cap space to afford a big extension, but because they waited too long, the price will only rise, especially if Parsons or Hendrickson sign new deals before Watt.
The last time T.J. Watt was extended, the deal was not finalized until just days before Week One. That cannot happen again. This needs to get done as soon as possible, or Pittsburgh could end up paying a price that is simply too hard to swallow. For all the good Omar Khan and Andy Weidl have done so far, there have been some questionable decisions as well, and this T.J. Watt contract situation is a bad look for the front office.
Considering how differently this group has approached business compared to the Kevin Colbert era, you would think a contract extension of this magnitude would have been completed much earlier, breaking from the usual Steelers pattern. Instead, the team now finds itself backed into a corner. They will have to take the slap on the wrist, deal with the consequences they created, and give Watt what he wants.