For a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers have benefited from having one of the greatest all-around defenders the sport has ever seen in T.J. Watt. Unfortunately, his name is coming up in headlines as he and the Steelers continue to try to find common ground in terms of a contract extension. If Pittsburgh can keep him around long-term, they could still get a ton of production out of the 30-year-old. Steelers insider Mark Kaboly thinks the idea of trading Watt in general is a bad one. He also believes Watt could still have two 20-sack seasons ahead of him.
“I don’t trade T.J. Watt,” Kaboly said, speaking on 93.7 The Fan on Friday. “I mean, I just don’t do it. I think he has at least two more potential 20-sack seasons left in him; I know the age. He has been relatively healthy. I mean, we’re talking about what, 10 games in seven years he’s missed? That’s nothing.”
As Kaboly mentions, injuries aren’t much of a concern for him. 20-sack seasons aren’t new for Watt either. He eclipsed that number for the first time in 2021, when he led the league in sacks with 22.5. Watt came close again two years later in 2023, falling just short with 19, although he still led the league that year as well. In 2024, Watt had a down year, even though his numbers would still be impressive for most defenders in the league.
He finished last season with 11.5 sacks. That’s his lowest total over a full season since his rookie year back in 2017. His 31 pressures were also a dip from the 50 he recorded in 2023. Unfortunately, that was a bad time for him to see a statistical drop. He’s now negotiating a contract coming off a down year.
However, his ‘down year’ was still impressive. Watt is also still just as good as he’s always been against the run. And part of the reason for the lack of pass-rushing production could be due to the fact that his role on the defense might be getting stale. Watt’s been able to simply dominate the man in front of him throughout his career. But facing a growing number of chips and double teams, Kaboly thinks he’ll need more help going forward.
“He needs help,” Kaboly said. “That’s why you hear a lot of talk of him moving around, he’s probably at the point in his career where that would benefit him the most…. He needs to be able to be put in situations to succeed, rather than just dominate.”
Fortunately, help does seem to be on the horizon. For one, the Steelers added depth to their interior defensive line with Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black. More consistent pressure up the middle should free some things up for Watt. In addition, there’s been talk about moving him around more in general on the defense, as Kaboly alludes to. That could give him different and fresh matchups, while possibly trimming the number of chips and double teams he’ll face.
In the near future, the Steelers will probably be guaranteeing a lot of money to Watt. If he manages to give them two more 20-sack seasons, that’s quite the return on investment.
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