The Pittsburgh Steelers will not have their star player in attendance at mandatory minicamp this week, as T.J. Watt plans to hold out, according to a new report.
Per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Watt is not expected to be at mandatory minicamp this week, which begins on June 10 and runs through June 12.
As the name suggests, this portion of the offseason program is no longer voluntary, so Watt, who wasn’t present at the non-mandatory offseason workouts, will be subject to fines if he doesn’t show up.
Watt is currently looking for a new contract, but the two sides have been unable to come to an agreement. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the expectation is something will get done before the regular season.
That said, the fact that Watt is holding out suggests things aren’t going great or else he’d at least show up. This definitely takes things to another level.
The biggest mistake the Steelers made was not taking care of Watt earlier. In the past year, new contracts for guys like the Houston Texans’ Danielle Hunter, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Maxx Crosby and the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett have significantly raised the price for top-flight edge rushers.
Garrett’s in particular really broke the mod, with the Browns giving him a four-year, $160 million deal that was over $4 million more than the next closest player.
At the very least, we’d expect Watt to be looking for a deal that pays him around the $35 million annually Hunter and Crosby are getting, but it’s very possible he wants Garrett money.
The concern with Watt is that he’s turning 31 this year, but he’s also one of the team’s most important players, if not the most important. The Steelers desperately need the seven-time Pro Bowler if their defense is going to be up to snuff in 2025.
We’ve expected all along that the Steelers would get something done with Watt, but this latest news certainly adds a new wrinkle to things and will rightly make Steelers fans uneasy moving forward.
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