NFL Trade Rumors
Steelers OLB T.J. Watt skipped mandatory minicamp as he continues contract extension negotiations.
Gerry Dulac previously mentioned the holdups in contract talks came from the number Watt was after and the guarantees the Steelers were comfortable with. However, he said they still expect things to get done before the regular season.
On an episode of The Insiders last Thursday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport talked about how the lack of contracts for Cowboys DE Micah Parsons and Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson has caused a holdup in the Watt deal.
“This market has not been filled out, like you sort of would like,” Rapoport said. “You mentioned Micah Parsons’ deal, certainly not done — doesn’t seem like that one is gonna be done anytime soon. Then, the Trey Hendrickson deal — another big-time edge deal player who is in a similar place, similar productivity, somewhat similar age — that deal has not been done either. If those were done, then you could sort of say, ‘Alright, well, obviously T.J. Watt slots in here.’ Because we are still waiting on some of those massive deals, it’s a little bit tricky to see where T.J. Watt belongs.”
ESPN’s Peter Schrager alluded to that dynamic between all the top edge rushers who are due for new deals this offseason as well, noting it’s complicated negotiations. Schrager still expects Pittsburgh to work something out with Watt before the Bengals resolve things with Hendrickson.
“I think T.J.,” Schrager said via Steelers Wire. “I think T.J. Watt. I feel like I know both sides are really motivated to get something done here. They don’t want to go into training camp and have this thing drag on. … Now, from what I’m told, both sides want it to get done. Obviously, T.J. Watt’s going to want a certain amount of money. Question is, is it a game of chicken where it’s, okay, T.J. Watt takes a deal that the Steelers offer and then, a week later, Micah Parsons blows his deal out of the water and we’re in the same place that we were beforehand.”
During a prior update from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on The Insiders, he called training camp a likely “pressure point” and discussed the Steelers’ optimistic attitude towards the situation.
“I don’t feel that this one is contentious,” Garafolo said. *“If a player misses mandatory minicamp over the next couple days, you don’t have to fine a player. We’ll see what the Steelers wind up doing on this one. I know that they feel really good about the talks that they’ve had and the offers that they’ve made. … Mike Tomlin has the belief that T.J. Watt is gonna be just fine working away from the facility, so they’re not stressing about that part of it. If there was a pressure point right now — and the start of training camp seems like it’s a pressure point — I feel like this thing would get done. And it will get done at some point. I...
