Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Colin Cowherd believes T.J. Watt is going to make life tough on the Pittsburgh Steelers because 'he knows he owns Mike Tomlin'

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 3:18 PM ET

T.J. Watt created a big stir on Tuesday by not showing up to mandatory minicamp.

In reality, expecting a player to top show up amid a contract dispute was always rich, but that is neither here nor there.

What is important to analyze is how much Watt will cost the Steelers.

According to Colin Cowherd, it's going to be a lot...

T.J. Watt to take Steelers to the Cleaners?

"He's not gonna show up, and you know why? Because he knows he owns Mike Tomlin," Cowherd said on Tuesday via SD. He owns the Steelers. He's gonna get whatever he wants. Everybody in Pittsburgh owns a T.J. Watt jersey. They don't want any backlash. The Rooneys, small town, they don't want any backlash, and [Watt's] gonna get whatever he wants...

"...This is not a criticism of T.J. Watt, but in four playoff games, he's got one sack, no forced fumbles, six tackles...A lot of T.J. Watt's numbers have been against that bad Bengals' o-line, or bad Cleveland o-line. This is not anti-T.J. Watt. He's a hell of a player. He's their best player. He's tough. He's physical. He plays through pain. O-4 in the playoffs, one sack."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Herd (@theherd)

For starters, say what you want about Mike Tomlin, but I wouldn't say any player that ever played under him, "owns him." On top of that, Watt does deserve every penny. He is one of the few non-quarterbacks in the league that actually change the betting line based on his availability.

The Steelers are 1-10 without Watt on the field. Forget negotiations, forget being a "one helmet guy," that's all Watt needs to put on Omar Khan's desk.

But Cowherd does bring up a good point when he refers to what Watt has does when the lights shine the brightest.

Watt didn't record a sack down the stretch of the 2024 season, posting donuts in the last month of his campaign, and he didn't record a single stat against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs.

People seem to forget the ankle injury he was playing through, however, and if you're argument is that the Steelers can't win a playoff game with Watt, well what do you think it would look like without Watt?