The contract negotiations between the Steelers, and TJ Watt took a turn for the worse this week. Watt skipped the mandatory mini camp practices presumably in protest of how talks were going between he, and the club. We can only assume the Steelers are balking at paying the top of the market rate of $40 million per season Watt is almost certainly asking for. This could lead to a very long, and potentially messy contact situation this summer. The next logical question then becomes should the team trade TJ Watt?
The easy answer to that question is no. Trading a top tier edge rusher is generally a bad idea. Particularly for a team seemingly loading up for one more Super Bowl run. The Steelers added several veterans like Aaron Rodgers, Darius Slay, and Robert Woods only further proving their desire to be highly competitive in 2025. Moving TJ Watt now would be counterintuitive to everything the team has done this off-season.
Well, almost everything. You see the Steelers are in the midst of a very difficult win now/rebuild plan for two seasons now. Omar Khan was very careful not to upset the draft compensation formula during free agency. Pittsburgh went into the 2025 offseason with as much cap space as almost any team in the league. Despite that cap space, they did not sign a single premium free agent. The result of this is Pittsburgh now has an impressive 12 draft picks in 2026. Khan is clearly hoarding assets to trade up for a quarterback next season. It’s safe to assume this team will be in full rebuild mod after this season.
The Steelers need to ask themselves where does their priority lie? Is it winning at all costs in 2025, or the rebuild for 2026? TJ Watt could very well command a future first round pick, and maybe more to the right team. Teams like the Lions or Bills would immediately become Super Bowl favorites by adding Watt. Adding another first rounder to their war chest would put the Steelers in the drivers seat for a trade up in the 2026 draft.
In the end this will all come down to where the Steelers feel Watt is physically. Do they believe 2024 was just an aberration, or do they believe it’s the start of a major decline in a 31 year old player? If it’s the latter, contract negotiations become increasingly contentious. Committing top of the market money to a player you think is in the midst of a downward slide is bad business. If, on the other hand, the team thinks it was just a one off then we can see a deal eventually getting done. Whatever happens this should be a fairly fascinating contract battle. The trade TJ Watt scenario may not be likely, but it can’t be ruled out.