TJ Watt’s record setting demands for next contract with Pittsburgh Steelers or elsewhere 

Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers signed free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the attention has shifted another future Hall of Famer and his contract negotiations.

Steelers the big movers this offseason

The Steelers know it’s now or never. They are all in on this season, bringing in a 41-year old, four-time MVP of the NFL. On top of that they made one of the trades of the offseason this week, sending Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith.

There is just one order of business left, and it looks to be an expensive one if they Steelers are going to keep their heart and soul on the defensive end. T.J. Watt is heading into the last year of his contract with the Steelers, but after sitting out mandatory minicamp, and demanding a new deal, there could be a lengthy hold out on the way.

He is set to make over $21 million his final year, but he has loftier expectations for a new deal. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, Watt is aiming to be the highest paid non-quarterback in the league. “The stalemate is going to be that T.J. Watt wants to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league,” Dulac said. “And the Steelers are looking at it that he’s age 31. In order to accommodate any kind of large contract, it can’t be a three-year deal, it has to be a five-year deal because you need to spread the money out.”

Watt chasing Chase

That could be tough to swing seeing the contracts that have been handed out of the last few months. The Cincinnati Bengals not only have one of the highest paid QBs ever, but they just paid WR Ja’Marr Chase a record setting contract of $40.25 million a year. That’s the most for a non-quarterback and that’s the number that Watt is appartenly pursuing.

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The former Defensive Player of the Year and three time sack leader of the NFL feels like he should be one of the top paid players in the league. At 30 years old, the Steelers know that his best days could be behind him, and that’s where the reluctance is coming from.

It’s hard to imagine the Steelers making a Super Bowl push without TJ Watt. He and the Steelers defense have been the only reason Pittsburgh have been competitive in the last few years. Their offense has been putrid since they started searching for an incumbent to Ben Roethlisberger. Now they have weapons on the other side of the ball, but could lose their biggest star on defense.