Steelers Should 'Read Between The Tea Leaves' On JJ Watt's Statement: 'They Waited Too Long' To Pay TJ Watt

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a rough situation when it comes to contract negotiations with star edge rusher TJ Watt. He was not on the field for the first few sessions ofOrganized Team Activities (OTAs), which caused some controversy. The team is danged if it does and danged if it doesn't get a deal done. If it does, then the franchise is likely going to give over $40 million to a 30-year-old coming off of his worst year. If the organization doesn't sign him, then it may have to trade away a piece that it has proven to be unable to win without. 

While hosting Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio spoke about the whole situation with Watt. In the process, he brought up comments made by his brother, JJ Watt.

"JJ Watt talked about it last week, and even though he wouldn't address TJ's situation, you can kind of read between the tea leaves," Florio said. "[The Steelers] waited too long, they waited too long. The market's gone up. The market's over $40 [million] now."

Contract negotiations is always a tricky subject. A lot of it revolves around the idea of "this player got paid this much, so I deserve more." In this case, the Cleveland Browns broke the market entirely by giving their star pass rusher, Myles Garrett, an extension worth $40 million per year. For reference, the next-highest deal is Danielle Hunter, who is making $35.6 million per year. 

There has been an ongoing debate for many years now on who the better edge rusher is between Watt and Garrett. Unfortunately, Garrett had the better year in 2024, but would the Steelers be willing to use that in negotiations, or do they believe that the 30-year-old that he is still the better player? There are a lot of issues that stem from this debate alone. 

At the end of the day, Florio is right, and JJ Watt is too: the Steelers should have extended TJ Watt previously. They could have made him the highest-paid edge rusher by giving him roughly $36 million per year and nothing would be questioned. Instead, they will most likely have to give him quarterback money to satisfy him, and many would argue that that would be an overpayment.

Steelers Still Need To Act Quickly

Watt is not the only one that is looking for a massive payday. Staying in the division, Trey Hendrickson is looking for a long-term extension. This is where JJ Watt's comments initially came from, and it's showing now. The Cincinnati Bengals have been very reluctant to give massive extensions to anyone, but like the Steelers, it will be hard for them to make the playoffs without the glue that holds that defense together. 

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys have a young, generational talent that needs to be paid. Micah Parsons is expected to be the cornerstone of the Cowboys' defense for about a decade, but Dallas keeps dragging its feet on negotiations. It would not be surprising to see Parsons reset the edge rusher market himself whenever a deal finally gets done there. 

If Hendrickson and/or Parsons get their new contract finalized before Watt, that could end up raising his price tag. His current demands are already problematic, but waiting around will only cause more problems. If he ends up demanding more, trade speculations will only get louder and louder.

It's evident that TJ Watt will not play until he has agreed to terms on a new deal. The last time this occurred, he held in, missing all of training camp and the preseason. The new number he's looking for could result in him getting dealt in an attempt to get more draft capital to finance a future franchise quarterback. Either way, the Steelers are seemingly in a no-win situation in this case.