The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot to do this offseason but they may have inadvertently annoyed one of their star players as they consider their next moves.
T. J. Watt is the heartbeat of this Steelers team, an eight-year veteran who has only ever played for one team. He holds the all-time Steelers record for career sacks but now has just one season left on his four-year, $112 million contract.
He is expected to get a big pay increase in his next contract but the Steelers do appear to have prioritised other players. DK Metcalf and Myles Garrett have both received more lucrative deals, while much of the offseason talk so far has revolved around a potential move for 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Speaking on Breakfast Ball on Thursday, Mark Schlereth said that Watt has good reason to feel underappreciated in Pittsburgh.
Schlereth said: “I’d be pissed off if I was TJ Wattalso… When you over perform – even if it’s a four or five year deal – we know in the NFL after your second or third year you’ve outperformed that contract and you become underpaid. Your value is so high that we should rip that contract up.”
.@markschlereth says TJ Watt should be upset with how the Steelers have treated him this offseason:
“If you’re TJ Watt, you say, ‘wait a minute now… you just made DK Metcalf… big-time pay. He’s never done squat for us. And now you’re flirting with Aaron Rodgers.'” pic.twitter.com/lGZalyb1xO
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) April 10, 2025
He continued: “It’s kind of an unwritten rule. If you’re TJ Watt, you say, ’Wait a minute now. You just made DK Metcalf a big-time player with big-time pay at the wide receiver position. He’s never done squat for us. You did that in the offseason and now you’re flirting with Aaron Rodgers.‘”
“Meanwhile I’m going into the last year of my deal and you’ve got Myles Garrett making $20 million more than me. Unacceptable.”
Steelers fans will be praying for a resolution to Watt’s contract situation but there remains the possibility that he is now looking for a move away from Pittsburgh. The linebacker could command a market-leading salary but the Steelers look reluctant to tie him down .
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