There has been a belief that T.J. Watt is looking for Myles Garrett money in contract extension talks with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala is refuting that notion. She told 93.7 The Fan that Watt “is not that petty” and isn’t trying to land more than Garrett.
“I got asked that, too,” Kinkhabwala said. “‘Oh, is T.J. Watt’s whole contract situation being held up by Myles Garrett?’ And my response to that is T.J. Watt is not that petty. This is not about, “Oh, I need one penny more than Myles Garrett.”
Well, that’s good news for the Steelers, who reportedly don’t want to make Watt the highest-paid edge rusher in the league, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said.
“You know, if they possibly can, they’re going to try and not make him the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL,” Rapoport said of Watt and the Steelers.
Of course, topping Garrett would mean Watt gets a contract that pays him over $40 million per year. The Cleveland Browns superstar edge rusher’s contract is for four years and $160 million.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter weighed in on the Watt contract situation and said that he expects the Steelers All-Pro to fall somewhere in the range between Garrett’s and Maxx Crosby’s deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“[Trey] Hendrickson, Watt, I think they’ll be in the Crosby, Garrett range,” Schefter said on Unsportsmanlike on Monday. “Somewhere in there.”
A contract in the range of Crosby and Garrett would put Watt’s annual average between $35.5-$40 million.
It’s definitely reasonable to expect that’s where he’ll end up.
Unfortunately for Steelers fans who are concerned about Watt’s future in Pittsburgh, we may not get a resolution to this situation until close to the start of the regular season.
If it does drag on that long, it’ll be interesting to see if Watt, who held out of mandatory minicamp, shows up for training camp late next month.
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