Insider Reveals Biggest Holdup Between Steelers, T.J. Watt

The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to have a knack from moving from one contract situation to another.

The Aaron Rodgers contract situation, which took months to resolve, recently came to a conclusion. Now, the Steelers are involved in another high-profile contract debate with franchise cornerstone edge rusher T.J. Watt. Watt is in the final season of his contract, and will need to be either extended or dealt with haste, because the cost is likely to only rise.

Now, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes that he understands the reason as to why Watt's contract continues to toil away in discussion. Florio believes that the Steelers are taking their time on Watt due to his lack of production down the stretch last season and his inability to record significant statistics in big moments.

"Yeah, I mean that's more the common sense around the league," Florio said. "Why would the Steelers be waiting so long? Why would there be this sense that there's a gap? You never pay a guy for what he's done. If you pay guys for what they've done, you're asking for trouble. And you know, the cliche used to be that the NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. It's not that either. It's what are you doing for me right now and what do I expect you to do for me tomorrow? That's what guys get paid on.

"They don't get paid on the past, they don't get lifetime achievement contracts. They get paid based on what we think this guy brings to the table right now, this year, next year and maybe one year beyond that. And that's the key."

Watt did admittedly not play well down the stretch, but has also proven over his long and illustrious NFL career that he is one of the top players to ever play the position. It would be short-sighted for the team to not provide some sort of deal, but it is possible the Steelers would benefit more from trading him.