The Pittsburgh Steelers have some major questions marks with just over three months left until the start of the 2025 NFL season. But perhaps the biggest comes in the form of the best player on their roster, All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt.
Watt has been one of the best players in all of football throughout his eight-year tenure in Pittsburgh, making the Pro Bowl in all but one year, his rookie season, with the organization.
There is a very good argument for Watt being the best defensive player in all of football, worth every penny of what he would ultimately receive in the open market should he reach free agency.
Only time will tell whether he does ultimately get to free agency instead of signing with Pittsburgh. But it seems like Watt is getting tired of waiting on a new deal.
Watt has been absent from Steelers OTAs since they kicked off on Tuesday as he awaits a contract extension, going into the final year of his four-year $112 million deal that he signed in 2021. While it may be too soon to say this is a full-on holdout since it is currently the voluntary portion of offseason workouts, it’s easy to see how a holdout may be coming.
Since Watt signed his deal, he has watched Myles Garrett, a player he is naturally compared to quite a lot as an AFC North rival at his position, reset the market for edge rushers with his four-year $160 million extension he just signed to stay in Cleveland.
On paper, there is a fair argument that Watt deserves every bit of what Garrett got, whether that be with the Steelers or elsewhere on the open market. So now, the pressure is on the Steelers to meet Watt’s demands so that he will return to practice and get up to speed in an appropriate time.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, this perhaps isn’t even the most pressing concern for the organization heading into 2025. They continue to wait to see if Aaron Rodgers will retire from the NFL or sign in Pittsburgh, the two possibilities that seem to be on the table at this moment.
Currently, the most experience quarterback on the Steelers roster is Mason Rudolph, who is largely a career backup who has gotten the occasional spot start here and there. So unless Rodgers opts to sign, they very well may have one of the worst quarterback rooms in all of football this coming season.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.