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JJ Watt drops hint about brother TJ’s contract stance

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated May 28, 2025 7:55 PM ET

JJ Watt may have sent a message to the Pittsburgh Steelers on behalf of his brother TJ as that contract situation progresses.

JJ appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” Wednesday and discussed the rise in compensation around the NFL for defensive linemen. While he declined to specifically discuss TJ Watt’s situation with Pittsburgh, he made it clear that he thinks teams should be trying to sort out these issues as early as possible, pointing to Trey Hendrickson’s dispute with the Cincinnati Bengals as evidence.

In Watt’s mind, doing a deal early locks in players at lower prices while simultaneously keeping them happy and making them feel valued.

“I’ve long been a big believer that ownership and front offices obviously treat this as a business, but they do not like it when the players flip the script on them and treat it like a business back,” Watt said. “If you take care of things early, especially when players want to take care of things earlier and say that they’ll take less money to take care of things earlier because it sets themselves up long-term financially, do that.”

"Ownership and front offices obviously treat this like a business but they don't like it when the players treat it like a business..

If you can take care of your guys earlier you should do that" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/pNRqMauTWu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 28, 2025

Watt’s comments come as his brother enters the final year of a four-year, $112 million extension. TJ Watt has made it clear that he wants to stay with the Steelers, but has also made some moves that some see as cryptic messages to the team.

JJ is not necessarily speaking about his brother here. However, it is easy to read this as a clear statement urging the Steelers to take care of TJ’s contract now so things do not become toxic later. It remains to be seen if those talks will progress and Watt will ultimately get what he wants.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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