In what has become one of the most radical Pittsburgh Steelers offseasons in history, it appears that quiet has finally taken over. We are just weeks away from training camp, and the hope is that the biggest moves are past this franchise.
This year saw some massive trades materialize for the team. In total, they dealt away George Pickens and Minkah Fitzpatrick, two core starters, and brought in D.K. Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, and Jonnu Smith in return. It has truly been a refresh like no other.
It may not be done as we haven’t answered the T.J. Watt question yet.
On the surface, it appears as though Watt is as safe as it gets, a franchise cornerstone player. However, we said similar things about Pickens and Fitzpatrick. With his contract talks likely running into training camp, could a trade actually materialize for both sides?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have no set loyalty to T.J. Watt
At the beginning of the offseason, I would say there was no chance that the Steelers would be without their star pass rusher. However, I would have said similar things about Fitzpatrick and, to a lesser extent, Pickens.
Simply put, this team is willing to make tough choices under Omar Khan. And when a player has issues with the team, the Steelers aren’t going to hold onto them.
Pickens' issues were apparent. He was immature and had character issues on and off the field, such as arriving late for games. He clearly wasn’t going to be on this team long-term, so they got what they could for him.
To a lesser extent, Fitzpatrick also had some issues as a player surface since his trade. More importantly, his play was no longer justifying his contract. They had the chance to deal him for some other players, so they did.
While I do believe that the Steelers want Watt around for the foreseeable future, they also aren’t likely to cater to every demand he has with his next deal. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, he could be next to go.
While I am still not anticipating a deal that sends Watt elsewhere, I also wasn’t expecting any of the other trades to come through as they did. If this contract issue lingers and continues to upset both player and team, another shocking trade could be right around the corner.
