TJ Watt was drafted 30th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017 and since then he has been an all time edge rusher in the NFL. 4 First-Team All-Pro selections, 7 Pro Bowl selections, 2 Second-Team All-Pro selections, and the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Not to mention that he’s led the NFL in sacks three times since 2020, tying the single-season sack record with legend Michael Strahan with 22.5 in 2021. After knowing what he’s capable of, many would think why in the world would you want to trade a player of that caliber? That’s what Steelers fans are thinking after TJ posted a cryptic peace sign on his Instagram story, leading them to wonder what is happening behind the scenes in Pittsburgh. Watt is on the last year of his deal entering 2025 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season if the Steelers don’t get an extension done with him. Watt’s production and history with the organization would make you think that he deserves a high end contract similar to the one that his rival Myles Garret signed, making 40 million a season over the course of four seasons. On the other hand some fans think they should ship him out and get picks back for the future while he still has value, since the team is still full of question marks. With valid points on both sides, it’s an interesting question to think about for sure.
Immediately you think the Steelers would be crazy to let go of someone as elite as TJ Watt when they could just extend him. The issue is that Watt’s amazing production only has so much time left as he will be 31 within the first month of the 2025 season. It’s hard in such a physical sport like football to stay an all-pro caliber player into your mid to late, and you can already see the production dropping in TJ’s game as of late. He recorded 11.5 sacks last season which is his lowest since his rookie year, not including 2022 where he missed 7 games. Similarly he had 53 pressures which is his lowest since the 2018 season, also not including his 7 games missed in 2022. Pass rush is arguably the biggest part of TJ’s game, so seeing this kind of decline in his game can be worrying for the Steel City. That paired along with the fact that the Steelers themselves aren’t close to contending makes it seem like the path to TJ being off the team is more realistic than some fans want to admit. There’s no doubt that he still has something left in the tank, so shouldn’t the Steelers take advantage of that and deal him to a contending team for picks before he falls off and loses the value? It’s a crazy stat, but the Steelers have not won a playoff game since TJ was drafted all the way back in 2017. With Watt being in the latter half of his career it would make sense for him to want to start to ring chase, and the Steelers have too many offensive issues, specifically at quarterback, to give Watt the success he wants to see at the NFL level.
Watt is still an amazing player regardless of his age at the moment and a ton of Steelers fans would love to see him be in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career. Watt may have had a down year in the pass rush department, but against the run he had a great year with a PFF grade of 91.4 which is the highest of his whole career. He also led the whole league in forced fumbles with 6, which is his best since the 2019 season. TJ still had a good year overall; it was just more on the run defense side of his game than the pass rush. Along with that is the fact that players can play good up until they retire especially on defense. Aaron Donald recently retired and he was a prime contributor to that Rams team up until he decided to leave the game. Fans believe TJ can be that type of guy for the Steelers as he heads into his early thirties seasons, especially when Cam Heyward is coming off one of his best years at the age of 35. TJ has also been the face of this team since Big Ben retired and so the fans are attached after watching him grow until the player. A crazy stat for TJ is that the team is 1-10 when he isn’t on the field, which just shows how important he is to the team as a whole. He isn’t the problem with this team clearly with the offense being as below average as it’s been. With how he has played for the past few years he deserves to get a huge contract, whether or not it is with Pittssburgh.
I would love to see TJ Watt stay a Steeler for his entire career and think he can bounce back from his down year and prove that he’s not slowing down just yet. I get why the front office is hesitant on giving out that big of a deal with his age and slower year, but TJ embodies what it means to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. With all of that being said, I just hope TJ Watt can have some postseason success even if it’s not with Pittsburgh.
