The Steelers held the most talked-about minicamp in the NFL this year, with who was in attendance. That, of course, being Aaron Rodgers, who finally declared his intentions to sign with the team after rookie minicamp concluded the week prior.
Along with Rodgers finally donning the black and gold were stories of new WR D.K. Metcalf‘s impressive stature, Will Howard soaking up his first NFL practice reps, and Broderick Jones slimming down to take on his inevitable task of starting left tackle. A long-lost side story was that of the best player on the team and former Defensive Player of the Year, T.J. Watt, being absent from mandatory minicamp.
As you must know, Watt is entering the final year of a 4-year, $112 million contract extension he signed in 2021. With his contract year looming, Watt elected to sit out of mandatory minicamp, which raised the question among many Steelers fans: Should the Steelers trade T.J. Watt?
In his eight seasons in the NFL, Watt has been voted to seven Pro Bowls, four First Team All-Pros, and a Defensive Player of the Year award. A strikingly similar resume to that of Myles Garrett, who signed the highest-paying contract of all time for a defensive player earlier this offseason.
Trade T.J. Watt
There’s an argument to be made that the Steelers should trade Watt, rather than paying him north of $40 million per year.
Entering his ninth season, and at 30 years old, it’s possible that Watt’s best years are behind him. His sack production dropped off from a league-leading 19.0 in 2023 to just 11.5 in 2024. Although he’s regularly held, double-teamed, and/or chipped, this is nothing new for Watt. He’s been producing through that kind of attention for most of his career, until last season.
The Steelers famously have not won a playoff game since 2016, the year before Watt was drafted. In other words, despite his illustrious resume, Watt has never won a playoff game in his NFL career. Many argue that the Steelers have wasted Watt’s prime years stuck in post-Roethlisberger quarterback purgatory, and that may be true, but Watt himself has not helped with the playoff woes.
In four career playoff games, T.J. Watt has tallied eight tackles and ONE sack. Are the Steelers about to pay a 30-year-old declining player $40 million per year who hasn’t shown up in the playoffs during the prime of his career? There may be a more logical option.
Forward Thinking Philosophy
It may feel completely foreign to Steelers fans, but it’s not uncommon to trade an iconic, fan favorite at the height of his career. There’s a philosophy that many teams believe in: Trade a player a year early, rather than a year late.
Bill Belichick did it perhaps more often than anyone, and with great success. Team leaders, Pro Bowl players, and Super Bowl champions were traded by the Patriots seemingly in the prime of their careers, just to maximize their value instead of overpaying for a player on the brink of decline.
Randy Moss, Logan Mankins, Richard Seymour, Chandler Jones, and Mike Vrabel combined for fourteen Pro Bowls for the Patriots, and all were traded. Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Eric Dickerson, and Brett Favre were all traded late in their careers, and even had Pro Bowl seasons once traded to their new teams.
The Steelers have the makings of a succession plan in place. A pair of 4th-round picks, Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer, make edge rusher the deepest position on the roster. The combination of those players could fill the hole left by a departing T.J. Watt. A trade would bring a hefty return of draft capital, which could be used to help replace him or pursue a much-needed young QB of the future in the loaded 2026 draft.
There is more than enough cause for the possibility to be realistic.
Extend T.J. Watt
The Steelers entered the 2025 free agency period with a robust $60 million in available cap space. In 2026, they are currently projected to hold $104 million in cap space, which will be the third most in the league. Until recently, these were largely uncharted waters for the usually cap-strapped Steelers. Having a salary cap guru as a General Manager and no franchise QB to pay can have its advantages.
The money is there, as is the desire of both parties to get a deal done. T.J. Watt is a consummate Steeler, an uber-aggressive menace on the field, and a class act off the field.
Watt’s drop-off in production in 2025 could be the result of undocumented injuries during the season or the lack of creativity in the Steelers’ pass rush. Throughout his career, Watt has played exclusively on the left side of the defense, lining up over the right tackle, but recently expressed that he may need to be more open to versatility going forward.
“I move around from time to time. I prefer the left, but at this point in my career, I want to be an impact player. I don’t want to be schemed out of games. I want to be able to deliver. It wasn’t a good enough year for me…”
Watt’s book-end running mate, Alex Highsmith, endorsed the defensive versatility heading into 2025..
“Yeah, I think [switching spots] is something we definitely got to include in the game, because, …teams were kind of catching on to what we were doing,”
Highsmith continued to say that moving around will help teams get off balance and eliminate their ability to max protect against them. All in the interest of creating more favorable matchups for himself, and of course, T.J. Watt.
Whether the production matches the player or not, Watt is still the best player on the team. The attention he demands elevates the rest of the defense, especially in the front seven. The Steelers defense just wouldn’t look or feel the same without #90.
Steelers DNA
Earlier this offseason, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan spoke of “retooling physicality”. They did so by drafting players with “Steelers DNA”. The lack of physicality certainly doesn’t come from T.J. Watt, who happens to be the poster child for Steelers DNA.
Prior to Watt’s 2021 contract extension, the negotiations stretched to the end of training camp, where Watt “held in” by not participating in any team drills and essentially was only a bystander. It was a popular talking point for fans and media, but nobody was less concerned than Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers’ best player, a workout warrior, stayed fresh and healthy throughout camp, just to get the deal done at the 11th hour before the games count. That’s a win for everyone involved.
Have Tomlin, Khan, and Rooney discussed taking calls to gauge interest in a trade for Watt? I doubt it. It’s simply not in their “Steelers DNA”. Watt is a Steelers legend, and he’ll be treated just like the legends before him. Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu, both Super Bowl-winning Steelers legends, retired after spending their entire careers with the team. They both retired when their primes had long passed them by, becoming fractions of the players they once were.
T.J. Watt will be afforded the same opportunity, out of the respect, admiration, and loyalty the Steelers often show their greats, whether that be right or wrong. History will repeat itself in 2025. If the negotiations make it into camp, Watt will “hold in”, a deal will get done, and Watt will be fresh and ready for week one when the games start to count.
