As star pass-rusher T.J. Watt skipped the Pittsburgh Steelers' mandatory minicamp amid his desire for a contract extension, a Wednesday report revealed that the ongoing Watt saga could "drag on for quite some time."
Later on Wednesday, Steelers and NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports ripped the club for letting Watt remain in the final year of his existing contract this far into the offseason program.
"T.J. Watt has been an outstanding teammate and player and employee for the Pittsburgh Steelers over the course of his career," Kinkhabwala said during an appearance on Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan, as shared by Josh Carney of Steelers Depot. "At so many times, he could have stood up and said something that would create a stir about the level of professionalism in the locker room, about the approach of certain teammates in the locker room. ...This is who the Steelers should want at the center of their team. And it's ridiculous to drag this out. It really is. Why create hard feelings with a player like this giving you everything?"
Per the StatMuse website, no player has accumulated more regular-season sacks than Watt (108) since Pittsburgh made him the 30th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. Back in the summer of 2021, Watt participated only in individual drills throughout training camp until he received an extension to his liking.
Kinkhabwala pointed out that Watt's next deal became more expensive for the Steelers after Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns inked extensions earlier this year. Garrett reset the market for sack specialists when he signed a four-year, $160M deal that included $123.5M guaranteed. That said, Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys could better Garrett's agreement at some point this summer.
There's no indication that a Steelers side that recently signed 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers to be its 2025 Week 1 starting quarterback will trade Watt ahead of September. Thus, it makes little sense that Pittsburgh would continue to wait to hand Watt what seems to be an inevitable pay raise.
"The first time around, the Steelers just didn't want to guarantee money beyond that first year," Kinkhabwala added about Pittsburgh's handling of Watt. "It was such a sticking point. It was so ridiculous. It was absurd. They finally relented, and a deal got done. So this time around, the Steelers don't wanna negotiate a contract before the designated time in their head that they have ever negotiated with anyone outside of a quarterback. So dumb."
There's plenty of time for the Steelers and Watt to work things out before players have to report for training camp in late July. Having Rodgers makes Pittsburgh a win-now team, so one would think eliminating any Watt-related drama ahead of training camp would be best for everybody involved.
