T.J. Watt’s ongoing contract disputes with the Pittsburgh Steelers are the latest result of Myles Garrett’s benchmark deal, and the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t appear to be backing down. The four-time All-Pro wants to be paid just as much, if not more, than his counterpart in Cleveland, and the Steelers’ current, all-in status gives him the leverage.
Even though a five-year contract may not be what’s best for the team in the long term, since Watt is already 30 years old, the former face of the franchise, Ben Roethlisberger, is imploring Pittsburgh to pay Watt whatever amount he needs. In short, Watt is a one-part personification of what Big Ben thinks the Steelers are all about.
“They have to invest in one more guy, obviously, who’s one of the baddest dudes to play, but at some point they’ve got to do that. There’s got to be, somewhere in this thing, a hang up between the two,” Ben said, while hinting at what T.J. is more like as a person in the Steelers lockeroom.
Now that he’s more removed from the franchise’s day-to-day business with players, Roethlisberger was left to merely speculate as to the various bargaining points that are causing such a delay in the process. “It might be one thing, it could be three or four things,”he added.
Meanwhile, Roethlisberger did note that there are several things that can cause negotiations to grind to a halt, suggesting that Watt’s minicamp holdouts aren’t as alarming as they initially appeared to be.
“It could be, let’s say they are offering a four-year contract… They could be like, ‘the first three years… we agree. Year four, eh, I don’t know. T.J. could want this, team might want this, and that could derail the whole thing. It could be guaranteed money in year four only, it could be a no-trade clause in year four, or it could be something huge, but it could be something that small,” he explained.
According to Big Ben, “When scoring is up… you have two options; You either invest in your offense to score with everyone else, or you try and invest in your defense to stop everyone else,” hinting that the Steelers made their own bed with this one.
Notably, Aaron Rodgers has a one-year shelf life at this point in his career, and if Pittsburgh wants to make the most of that, then they’ll certainly need Watt on the opposite side of the ball.
Given the implied consequences of not reaching a deal, fans can expect a somewhat balanced yet lucrative contract for Watt. He may not be Myles Garrett, but he’s still one of the most premiere pass rushers in the NFL today.
That alone is certainly deserving of more than a $21.5-million salary.
