Trading T.J. Watt Ruins Steelers Entire Plan

The Pittsburgh Steelers want T.J. Watt to be part of their team in 2025. There's no denying that they'd love to hand for the former Defensive Player of the Year a new contract extension, likely cementing that he would finish his career in the black and gold.

But the NFL is a business, and sometimes, business decisions need to be made. Watt, right now, is the center of plenty of speculation. After the team traded Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins, teams have started calling to check on the availability of Watt, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Pittsburgh isn't saying yes to any of those phone calls, but if we're being honest, that can change.

The Steelers have shown their hand this offseason. They want to win a Super Bowl. They're doing everything they can to put themselves in position to do so, and their last remaining move might be signing Watt to an extension.

Maybe they can't, though. Maybe Watt wants too much money or too many years and the Steelers don't think it makes business sense. Really, paying someone until their 36 years old in the NFL probably doesn't make much sense. But for Watt, there's an exception.

The Steelers can decide at any time that Watt is better suited to leave, and that they can get something for him that is worth getting. Is that likely to happen? Not right now. Could it happen? Certainly.

If it does, the Steelers have ruined all of their efforts to make themselves a Super Bowl-worthy team. Signing Aaron Rodgers, trading for DK Metcalf, moving on from George Pickens and Minkah Fitzpatrick and making a blockbuster trade for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith - all down the drain. Everything out the window.

This team might still be good without Watt, but they just lost their greatest player. That doesn't sit well with their Super Bowl dreams.

In an offseason where the Steelers have said there are no limitations and they want to win now, losing Watt is the complete opposite of that. No matter what they could get, trading Watt at any point this offseason is a present time loss for the Steelers. And their hopes of winning a championship without him seem very far fetched.