Adam Schefter Drops Major Steelers, T.J. Watt News

The Pittsburgh Steelers are once again embroiled in contract disputes. Most teams often have contract issues each offseason, but the Steelers seem to always have something controversial brewing.

In last offseason, the offseason kicked off with defensive cornerstone Cam Heyward holding out of OTAs and continued with Najee Harris' option not being picked up by the Steelers' front office.

Now in this offseason, it began with contract talks between the Steelers and eventual starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That process took two months and ended with him signing, but surely the Steelers' would have preferred that it took a lot less time to come to an eventual conclusion. Almost immediately following the signing of Rodgers, the Steelers entered another contract dispute, this one a bit more harrowing.

Face of the franchise edge rusher T.J. Watt enters the final year of his contract this season, and the Steelers seem keen on getting a deal done. They have not reached a conclusion to this point, and ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter believes he knows why that is the case. On an appearance on Unsportsmanlike, Schefter spoke about what he thinks the holdup in the contract issue is.

“I think the biggest issue right now is the length of years in the contract,” Schefter said . “Again, Trey Hendrickson and T.J. Watt, they want more years, the team wants to give fewer years. Both players are in their 30s, so for the players, it’s about getting as much guaranteed money as you can over a longer period of time.”

Schefter compares Watt to Trey Hendrickson, who will also garner significant money soon. The age of the players themselves is also a large part of it, as teams do not want to be stuck with the largest contract for a defender in the history of the league if they do not age as gracefully as they have to this point. It will certainly be a tough situation for both parties, as they still seem quite far from an eventual conclusion.