All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt sent all of the city of Pittsburgh into a frenzy Wednesday night when he posted a cryptic message on instagram with a photo of himself essentially looking as though he was leaving the field.

The post can be seen in a light where Watt, entering the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, wants a new deal and doesn’t like where negotiations are at during this time.

NFL reporter Ian Rapoport surmised as much on Thursday morning’s show of Good Morning Football.

“When a player makes a cryptic social media post, it’s almost never nothing,” Rapoport said. “So lets assume for the sake of argument, for the sake of me actually having a reason to talk about this, it is something.

“Generally, when a player makes a social media post that forces us to talk about it on TV like we’re doing right now, it’s because contract negotiations are not going as well as anybody had hoped. I think we can safely say that contract negotiations between T.J. Watt and the Steelers are not off to a rip-roaring start. Doesn’t mean they won’t get there; they’ve gotten there before. He is a great player who deserves any penny.”

Watt is coming off an 11.5 sack season and was a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year Award again.

NFL insider Mike Fisher speculates that Watt might be seeking the same $40 million per year sort of deal that Myles Garrett got in Cleveland and that Micah Parsons is seeking with the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s the new going rate, and T.J. is obviously in the same conversation as those two as a player,” Fisher said. “Wanting the same money simply stands to reason.”

He is going to be 31 years old during the 2025 season, though, and to some showed signs of slowing down. With a $30 million cap hit, Pittsburgh is in the difficult place of knowing they cannot replace a player of Watt’s caliber, but don’t really want to give a long contract out.

This will be a contract stand-off to watch moving forward.