Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The time after the end of minicamp is usually when the Pittsburgh Steelers begin the process of earnestly entering negotiations with players on the team that are entering the final season of the contract about a possible extension.
T.J. Watt has been dominating the headlines, skipping OTAs and flaunting a potential six-figure fine to skip mandatory minicamp. Watt is entering the final season of his contract and is seeking a new deal — likely one that will rival the $40 million average annual value that the Cleveland Browns gave to Myles Garrett earlier this offseason.
Watt has seemed to be perturbed by the lack of progress on his deal, or at least that’s what his brother, J.J. Watt has insinuated in appearances on The Pat McAfee Show. T.J. Watt has not made any public statements about his holdout.
But Watt is not the only Steelers player that his entering the final year of his contract. Fellow starters Calvin Austin III, DeShon Elliott, Isaac Seumalo and Jaylen Warren are also entering the final seasons of their contracts.
But at least one of them doesn’t seem to be sweating it.
“To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it,” Austin said after the team’s final practice of minicamp on Thursday.
Austin said that he’s been focused on this upcoming season, his fourth with the Steelers, and figured that an extension would come after his four-year deal expired. But he did acknowledge that sometimes, things do happen differently, and would love to stay in Pittsburgh.
“I’d be so blessed to have a second contract here,” he said.
An Austin extension is an interesting proposition for the Steelers at this point. He started eight games in 2024, after starting just one game in 2023 and missing his entire rookie year with a recurring Lisfranc injury.
Austin had 548 yards last season and 180 in 2023. That’s not a ton of production. Going by his 32.2 yards per game, Austin’s market value is probably about $7 million per season, based on the same Steelers Now analysis we used to calculate a potential George Pickens contract extension earlier this offseason.
That puts him in the same range as contracts signed this offseason by Adam Thielen (61.5 yards per game, $8.5m average annual value), Marquise Brown (45.5 Y/G, $7m AAV) and Brandin Cooks (25.9 Y/G, $6.5m AAV). It’s worth noting that Austin is significantly younger than Thielen and Cooks and Brown missed all but two games due to injury.
But Austin is also a candidate for a potential breakout season in 2025. With Aaron Rodgers in the fold, the Steelers should be expected to throw even more than they did last season, and with no one else added to the receivers room other than DK Metcalf replacing George Pickens, there’s a chance for Austin to see a big bump in production in 2025.
So it might be worth the Steelers’ while to think ahead and get Austin under contract for beyond the 2025 season —...
