T.J. Watt’s Contract Has Pittsburgh Steelers Stuck in NFL Purgatory

The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently in football purgatory. Unless Mike Tomlin was the only glue holding this roster together, I doubt the Steelers are much worse than a .500 ball club without serious injury problems.

Everyone knows that the quarterback situation is the biggest question mark in Pittsburgh; however, they’ve done a decent enough job building a solid core around Aaron Rodgers. Quietly, Pittsburgh has actually built one of the better receiver rooms in the league with DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr., and rookie Germie Bernard.

Pairing that with the offensive mind of Mike McCarthy, I’m not incredibly worried about the Steelers' offense. I’m not sure it’s good enough to make a deep playoff run, but it’s more improved than every post-Big Ben offense we’ve seen them throw out there.

The real issue with the Steelers lies on the financial side. Pittsburgh isn’t afraid to pay players who are a part of the Steel Curtain, especially those who have won Defensive Player of the Year.

T.J. Watt will turn 32 during this season, and 2025 was the first year it felt like he lost a step. Of course, Watt losing a step isn’t similar to his counterparts. Pittsburgh also talked about using Watt in different positions this year, and I’m just not sure that’s a great plan.

It’s not that playing Watt is a problem; his contract is an albatross. The Steelers currently have the least cap room in the NFL and are paying $42 million to an aging outside linebacker. Even if Watt was performing at his MVP level, I still find that it was a massive overpay for the position.

Maybe a contract like this is why the Steelers organization is so great, but Watt was given this contract as a legacy deal. He wasn’t getting paid based on what they thought he could do, but on what he had done in the past.

Watt’s contract is obviously not as bad as Deshaun Watson’s contract in Cleveland, but this deal limits Pittsburgh’s ceiling. He’s simply signed to one of the worst contracts in the sport.

14% of your team's cap going to a player past his prime just can’t happen if you want to genuinely contend for a Super Bowl. I think this deal will leave the Steelers in a bit of a purgatory for contenders.

They’ll never be good enough to win a Super Bowl, but also won’t be bad enough to have a shot to draft a top prospect. Pittsburgh is one of the better-run franchises in the NFL, so it’s shocking to see them continue to be okay with constantly average play. 

Either blow it up, or move Watt, sitting pat will only waste what could be an interesting offense.