It’s the dead season of the NFL offseason, with the draft in the rearview, free agency slowed to a crawl, and the murmur of organized team activities (OTAs) is the lone sign of life.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ storylines, for now, are quiet. The George Pickens trade has left the news cycle, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains unsigned. The Steelers hope that the next news to break will be the arrival of their starting quarterback. However, other stories could soon commence.
Among them is the extension (or lack thereof) for edge rusher T.J. Watt.
Watt is entering a contract year, and the stalwart expressed his desire for a new deal with a social media post that put the deal on fans’ radar. Yet, there’s been little smoke, and obviously pen hasn’t hit paper just yet.
That’s enough for ESPN analyst Ben Solak to foreshadow a potential feud between the Steelers and their key star.
“I am not ringing any alarm bells, but I find it interesting that T.J. Watt is in the final year of his deal with pretty much no smoke about an upcoming extension,” Solak wrote. “I find this doubly interesting when you consider that he is 31 and coming off his worst season as a pro. And I find it triply interesting that Watt has never won a playoff game with the Steelers, who may be approaching a massive organizational overhaul if coach Mike Tomlin cannot figure out the quarterback position. Just a thought!”
Pittsburgh’s penchant for continuity suggests that a deal is likely unless things go south. He’s still among the best edge rushers in the game and the top player on a strong defense. In a decade or so, he’ll be inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor.
And yet, the Steelers aren’t necessarily wrong to take things slow. They don’t have much risk of the edge rusher market exploding – Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett did that with his $40 million average annual value. Extending edge rushers into their mid-30s is a risky proposition, and there is some decline between his 11.5 sacks and less impressive peripherals.
Perhaps Watt’s run defense helps his age curve, or his leadership buys him breathing room. In either event, the Steelers have a difficult choice ahead of them, and it could quickly become one of the biggest storylines of the 2025 season.
