Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt was not at the first three days of Steelers OTAs, presumably because of his contract situation. J.J. Watt even hinted on the Pat McAfee Show that his brother is not happy with how negotiations have gone.
“I have a lot of information on that subject,” J.J. Watt said when asked about T.J. Watt’s contract. “That’s not my subject to discuss.”
Watt also alluded again to the fact that T.J. Watt wanted to sign an extension last year. And the Steelers didn’t want to do it.
“Ownership and front offices obviously treat this like a business but they don’t like it when the players flip the script on them and treat it like a business,” J.J. Watt said.
Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith is not worried about Watt holding out or a potential trade, however. He expects a deal will get done between the two sides.
“I’ve been catching up with him all offseason. He really wants to be here. I’m very confident they’re going to get a deal done,” Highsmith said.
T.J. Watt created a stir in April with a cryptic post on his Instagram story. It’s unclear what Watt was referring to with a photo of himself putting up the peace out sign, but it put Steelers Nation on edge.
Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett both got massive deals this offseason. Garrett is averaging $40 million per year, while Crosby is making $35.5 million per year. Watt very well could want a pay increase.
J.J. Watt said in March that the Steelers messed up by not giving his brother T.J. Watt an extension sooner. They’ll now have to pay even more after Crosby and Garrett got paid handsomely.
“Reward your players earlier and reap the benefits in the long run. Dragging it out not only ends up costing more, it creates unnecessary tension. The longer you wait, the higher the price,” J.J. Watt wrote on X in response to a Brett Kollerman post that said dragging stuff out is the worst way to do things.
T.J. Watt, 30, did have a bit of a down year in 2024, registering the third least sacks in a season (11.5) in his career. The other two seasons were his rookie year (seven sacks) and 2022 (5.5 sacks) when he played in just 10 games due to a knee injury.
Watt has also never won a playoff game, so there’s been some speculation that he would want to move on somewhere else to compete for a Super Bowl. He shut down those rumors, however, stating that he wants to be with the Steelers for the rest of his career.
“I want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Watt said. “You guys know that. I don’t want to leave this place. I want to be part of the solution. I’ve put so much into it here.”
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: [Alex Highsmith Expects T.J....
