Following the trade of All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, things are starting to heat up surrounding star pass rusher T.J. Watt and his contract situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Just a few hours after making a blockbuster trade to acquire defensive back Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith, but sending out Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins, all attention now turns to Watt and his contract situation with the Steelers, especially after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that outside interest from teams will begin to increase as teams are weighing trade offers for the future Hall of Famer.
Though the Steelers are adamant they do not want to trade Watt and want him to be a one-helmet guy and a legacy player in the Black and Gold, Schefter believes that Watt could eventually request a trade publicly if things do not play out the way he hopes, similar to how Cleveland’s Myles Garrett used his leverage earlier this offseason with a trade request before signing a record-breaking deal.
“Absolutely. I mean, look, when there’s trade talk that’s coming out, obviously you know it’s out there,” Schefter said of the possibility of Watt requesting a trade publicly, according to audio via ESPN Radio. “So if on the first day of training camp they didn’t get a deal done and T.J. Watt says, look — and I’m making this up, ‘I don’t trust this organization to get a deal done and I wanna be moved,’ that would not be a popular statement in the city of Pittsburgh. That wouldn’t go over real, real well. I don’t think fans would like that.
“I think fans want T.J. Watt back and so they’re waiting to see what happens.”
When Garrett made his request publicly, it appeared all but set in stone that his time in Cleveland was over one way or another, even if the Browns made clear they weren’t going to trade him. Garrett drew a line in the sand and used that public statement to apply pressure.
In the end, it worked as the Browns gave into negotiating tactics and handed him a market-setting deal at the position, ending a month-long media tour for Garrett who stated all the reasons why he wanted out before taking the money and running from the Browns, valuing that money over his stated desire to win.
With Watt, he’s not happy with how things are playing out with the Steelers from a negotiating standpoint, as Schefter reported Monday on The Pat McAfee Show that Watt wasn’t pleased with the delay in negotiations, and that the two sides aren’t close to a deal. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported late Monday night that Watt is prepared for any outcome in this situation with the Steelers, whether that’s getting a new deal, holding out in training camp and pushing the envelope, or getting traded.
Now, Schefter believes Watt could utilize another tool and request a trade publicly, which could create quite a messy situation for the Steelers, who have had an interesting offseason so far, wheeling and dealing under GM Omar Khan, but failing to take care of their most important player to date.
Watt is coming off of a down season from a production standpoint based on his lofty expectations each and every year, having recorded just 11.5 sacks on the season. However, he led the NFL in forced fumbles with six and remains among the best pass rushers in football.
He deserves to be paid as such. Hopefully the Steelers get this thing done with Watt — and soon, because it risks getting quite ugly, and that’s never what you want to see with the Steelers’ organization and a beloved player.
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