The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an active offseason. They acquired D.K. Metcalf, finally parted with George Pickens, traded Minkah Fitzpatrick for Jalen Ramsey, and even signed Aaron Rodgers. Despite the plethora of moves made by GM Omar Khan, it feels as if the move he didn't make, the one that'll decide T.J. Watt's future, has cast a dark cloud on the team's summer.
With the 30-year-old entering the final year of his four-year, $112 million contract, he, understandably, is seeking a massive extension with the Steelers. Well, Pittsburgh, predictably, is unwilling to meet Watt's massive asking price, at least as of this point. This puts the organization in a rough spot, as they'll either have to pay him or trade him to ensure he doesn't walk next offseason for nothing.
Trading him, if they have no interest in paying him, sounds ideal in theory, but Tom Pelissero of NFL Network revealed what Pittsburgh might receive in a Watt trade. Let's just say the return is so minuscule it puts the Steelers in a rough spot regardless of what they decide to do.
“What can you get, at this point, for T.J. Watt?” Pelissero said, h/t Penn Live. “For one thing, a 2026 draft pick doesn’t help you. But even if you were getting a 2026 draft pick, is somebody giving up a first-round pick and more for T.J. Watt? Again, never say never, Rich, but when the Bengals were — at Trey Hendrickson’s request — shopping Trey Hendrickson earlier this offseason, they were asking for a first-round pick. They weren’t being offered a first-round pick for a guy who led the league in sacks last year and has like 35 sacks over the past two seasons."
The Steelers would likely receive a 2026 NFL Draft pick, which obviously wouldn't help them win now. What makes that worse is that the pick they'd receive would be a day two selection at best. That's all they can get for one of the best defensive players in the NFL - yikes.
T.J. Watt's trade value forces Steelers to make uncomfortable decision
The Steelers have three realistic paths for how they can handle this. The first of which is dragging this out until Watt lowers his asking price. That, for obvious reasons, should not be considered, as it'd only alienate Watt and a deal would likely not get done. This leaves them with two other lanes.
The Steelers can simply give in and make Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Would this be wise? That can be debated. Watt is one of the best and most impactful players in the sport when healthy, but he's also 30 years old, had a brutal second half of the 2024 campaign, and at a certain point, a player does become too expensive in a salary-capped league.
The other path the Steelers can go down is the trade path, but is that worthwhile? Again, it sounds like the best-case scenario for Pittsburgh would be the team receiving a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for Watt. Teams, understandably, are unwilling to pay a first-round pick to acquire him and give him the extension he seeks.
As for which path the Steelers should go down, well, that's really up to them. They obviously know how great Watt is, so keeping him would be ideal, but his asking price might simply be too much. If that's the case, they should trade him, even for an underwhelming return, to ensure they get something. This team is unlikely to win a Super Bowl this season with Watt anyway.
Regardless of what the Steelers decide to do, though, they're in a really tough spot. They either have to pay him way more than they're willing to, trade him for a laughably bad return, or watch him walk after the year for nothing. It's not a great spot to be in at all for the Steelers.