The Pittsburgh Steelers have already had a franchise-altering off-season. The decision to move on from both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields led to the eventual signing of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers. Shortly after the signing, Rodgers made it clear he was going to retire after this season and end his career with the black and gold.
However, their defense could see a massive change that few fans expected.
“Point Of No Return” Steelers’ TJ Watt Report Sends Fans Into Panic (Report)
In light of the fact that linebacker TJ Watt is entering the final year of his contract, there have been rumors that he could be traded during the offseason. Those rumors have started to pick up more steam as extension talks have seemingly gone no where:
TJ Watt has one season left on the lucrative four-year, $112 million extension he signed in 2021. The Steelers rarely let a franchise superstar start a season in a contract year, so the lack of an extension for Watt up to this point is certainly newsworthy.
The Steelers are supposed to be in win-now mode after acquiring Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey in a trio of blockbuster moves. Would GM Omar Khan really consider shopping his franchise star?
During an appearance on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, The Pat McAfee Show Steelers correspondent Mark Kaboly reported that the Steelers are doing their “due diligence” on TJ Watt’s trade value:
“I’m just saying, (the Steelers) are obviously inquiring what that might be. If it gets to the point where it’s a point of no return, maybe that second-round pick becomes very handsome.”
In their history, the Steelers have rarely let a player leave via trade or free agency in their prime, unless it was a bizarre case like Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell. It’s still difficult to imagine Watt in another jersey, but the Steelers are better off trading the future Hall of Famer rather than risk losing him for nothing in free agency.
Until/unless an extension is announced, the 30-year-old TJ Watt will continue to dominate the trade rumor mill.
The new-look Steelers will kick off the 2025 season on the road against the New York Jets on Sept. 7. That game, fittingly, will see Rodgers vs. Justin Fields in a showdown of quarterbacks who played on the opposing side a year ago.
Here is a look at Watt’s career stats:
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | QBH | Int | Yds | TD | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2017 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 54 | 40 | 14 | 7.0 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 68 | 50 | 18 | 13.0 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 55 | 35 | 20 | 14.5 | 14 | 36 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 53 | 43 | 10 | 15.0 | 23 | 41 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 64 | 48 | 16 | 22.5 | 21 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | PIT | 10 | 10 | 39 | 27 | 12 | 5.5 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | PIT | 17 | 17 | 68 | 48 | 20 | 19.0 | 19 | 36 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 34 | 1 |
| 2024 | PIT | 17 | 17 | 61 | 40 | 21 | 11.5 | 19 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 121 | 121 | 462 | 331 | 131 | 108.0 | 126 | 225 | 7 | 48 | 0 | 49 | 33 | 12 | 35 | 1 | |
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