{"id":55042,"date":"2025-06-11T02:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T02:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042"},"modified":"2025-06-11T02:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T02:26:12","slug":"breaking-steelers-fans-get-bad-news-on-t-j-watt-to-open-mandatory-minicamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.."},"content":{"rendered":"
For now, Steelers fans get the feel-good story of Aaron Rodgers signing on at $13.65 million … and the bad-news story of T.J. Watt’s unhappiness with Pittsburgh.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Aaron Rodgers\u00a0was hard. T.J. Watt might be even more difficult.<\/p>\n

We’re talking\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0contracts, of course, and on Tuesday, as the team launched its mandatory minicamp?<\/p>\n

The new QB is in the fold.<\/p>\n

The ol’ QB chaser is not.<\/p>\n

Pass rushers have enjoyed a massive jump in the market this\u00a0NFL\u00a0offseason. Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and eventually Micah Parsons and Trey Hendrickson are all examples of new contracts reaching up near $40 million annually for the position.<\/p>\n

Watt wants … something. And so NFL Network is noting that on Tuesday morning, he’s a no-show for minicamp.<\/p>\n

This is presently a problem. And it might linger.<\/p>\n

Watt, who is entering the final year of a four-year $112 million contract, had been\u00a0absent\u00a0from OTAs as he campaigns for a new deal.<\/p>\n

The former Defensive Player of the Year previously had the record for the highest-paid contract at his position when he signed his current deal in 2021. This season, without an extension, he’ll make $21.05 million on salary and cost $30.4 million total on the cap.<\/p>\n

Watt, 30, is entering his ninth year in the NFL and remains one of the game’s best defensive players. In 2024, he totaled 11.5 sacks and a league-leading six forced fumbles.<\/p>\n

He has in his career led the league in sacks a record three times and owns four First Team All-Pro honors to go with his 2021 DPOY.<\/p>\n

It’s been written that there is\u00a0the “expectation” that Watt and the Steelers will find a common ground before Pittsburgh opens the 2025 regular season with a matchup at the\u00a0New York Jets\u00a0on Sept. 7.<\/p>\n

But for now? Steelers fans get the feel-good story of Aaron Rodgers signing on at $13.65 million … and the bad-news story of T.J. Watt’s unhappiness with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For now, Steelers fans get the feel-good story of Aaron Rodgers signing on at $13.65 million … and the bad-news story of T.J. Watt’s unhappiness with Pittsburgh…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For now, Steelers fans get the feel-good story of Aaron Rodgers signing on at $13.65 million … and the bad-news story of T.J. Watt’s unhappiness with Pittsburgh....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"389\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg\",\"width\":499,\"height\":389},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"For now, Steelers fans get the feel-good story of Aaron Rodgers signing on at $13.65 million … and the bad-news story of T.J. Watt’s unhappiness with Pittsburgh....","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":499,"height":389,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042","name":"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-11T02:26:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-64.jpg","width":499,"height":389},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55042#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Steelers Fans Get Bad News on T.J. Watt to Open Mandatory Minicamp.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55044,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55042\/revisions\/55044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}