With Nick Herbig now signed to a four-year extension, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a high-priced, crowded outside linebacker room. It’s not a bad problem to have, but along with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh now has three expensive edge rushers all tied down well into the future. That’s making some wonder whether Watt or Highsmith could find themselves on the trade market.
Mike Florio thinks the price for Watt would include a first-round pick.
“All recent trades factor into it. I think it starts with a first-round pick. The question is, how much more does it go beyond that? And that whole general idea of a first-round pick, we know not every first-round pick is created equal. High first-round pick, low first-round pick, what do we expect this first-round pick to eventually be? I think that’s part of the analysis a team does,” Florio said Wednesday on 93.7 The Fan.
There are a couple of recent notable edge rusher trades we might be able to compare Watt’s value to. This week, Myles Garrett was traded for Jared Verse and the Rams’ 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, and 2029 third-round pick. Given the talent on Los Angeles’ roster, it feels safe to assume those picks will be coming towards the ends of those respective rounds. But Verse is notable, a young edge rusher coming off a 7.5-sack season.
Last offseason, the Cowboys sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay. They received the Packers’ first-round picks in both 2026 and 2027, as well as Kenny Clark, who was near the age of 30 while playing at a Pro-Bowl level at the time of the trade.
In each of those examples, the teams dealing a star player got a quality player in return. If the Steelers wanted something similar for Watt, it might decrease the draft capital they’d get in return. If they wanted strictly draft capital, maybe they could swing a first-round pick from somebody.
However, it feels like Watt’s trade value has declined after the 2025 season. He’s slightly older than Garrett, and much older than Parsons at the time of the latter’s trade. Watt is also coming off a seven-sack season with 10 tackles for a loss. For reference, Garrett broke the sack record last year, and Parsons had 12 in 13 games the year before he was traded.
If the Steelers were able to get a first-round pick for Watt, it’d be a trade worth considering. But given his age and the decline in his production over the last two years, it’s hard to feel that’s a sure thing. Potentially, a strong 2026 season could make him more attractive on the market next offseason. But if the return isn’t impressive, it’s not worth moving Watt just for the sake of doing so.
Reporting suggests the Steelers don’t have a desire to trade Watt anyway. But the NFL is a business, and the Steelers haven’t been afraid to make big moves recently. If the possibility of a Watt trade is out there, Florio thinks a first-round pick would be the starting price.
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