A member of the Rooney family believes that it is ‘absolutely insane’ for the Pittsburgh Steelers to pay T.J. Watt the money he wants.
Patrick Rooney Jr., a member of the family not affiliated with the Steelers, said the team would be “insane” to pay Watt what he is asking for at this time. That salary would likely exceed Myles Garrett’s $40 million per year.
Rooney does not work with the Steelers, so take the comments with some grain of salt. However, he is part of the family, and that is one of his sentiments.
“T.J. is a great player, great Steeler, but it’s insane to pay him anything right now,” Rooney said on the Palm Beach Kennel Club. “Absolutely insane. He’s 31 years old. But again, if you’re going all-in this year, then you’re going to have to re-sign him. You’re making moves right now that you’re trying to do something this year. That, to me, based on anything you’ve seen the last few years, seems insane.”
Watt, 30, will turn 31 in October and is coming off a second half of the 2024 season that saw him banged up and unproductive. The Steelers want to have some leverage against the perceived risk of Watt’s contract.
Garrett’s $40 million per year already sets a high bar for the Pittsburgh Steelers to meet when it comes to the next extension for Watt. Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson could top that number, driving the asking price for Watt’s annual gross average and potentially guaranteed money up even more.
The 30-year-old edge rusher remains one of the NFL’s elites. At the annual league meetings last week, general manager Omar Khan said the team hopes to see Watt finish his career with the Steelers.
“I’m not going to get into the contract numbers, but if you’re referring to T.J. [Watt], I assume, I’ll just say that I’m very hopeful that T.J. will finish his career as a Steeler,” Khan said.
He had just 11.5 sacks this past year and dealt with multiple injuries throughout the season. Following the season, Watt noted he wanted to stay with the Steelers.
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