No team has made as many headlines this offseason as the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their busy offseason has consisted of trading for DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey, and signing Aaron Rodgers for what appears to be his final season.
Buried in all the smoke of new arrivals, is the discontentment of their star player. NFL Insider Adam Schefer revealed that Watt is frustrated with his current contract situation, and teams around the league are gauging interest.
“In recent weeks, multiple teams have been discussing whether they can trade for Steelers’ standout T.J. Watt, who skipped the team’s most recent minicamp,” wrote Schefter in a post shared to X. “Pittsburgh hasn’t shown any willingness to deal Watt so far, but he’s unhappy with his contractual situation and sources believe outside team interest is likely to increase given today’s trade.”
While Pittsburgh is unlikely to part with their best player, stranger things have happened in the NFL. For the right compensation, perhaps Watt could be pried away if his contract dispute isn’t resolved soon.
Will the Buccaneers trade for T.J. Watt?
While the idea of adding Watt sounds great on paper, as all big-name transactions typically do, it might be overkill to add Watt after the moves the Bucs have made this offseason.
They made their biggest outside signing of the offseason by bringing in Haason Reddick to bolster their pass rush on a one-year, $14 million deal.
They also drafted EDGE David Walker in the fourth round, and it’s no secret that the organization is absolutely enamored with him. They spent their fifth round pick on defensive lineman Elijah Roberts, who led all of college football in quarterback pressures over the last two seasons.
The Bucs are expecting big things from YaYa Diaby, who has 12 total sacks through his first two seasons and is looking to make a big leap into a double digit sack artist in his third year.
The front office has invested a lot into their defensive front this offseason, and trading for Watt would inevitably take away reps from those in-house guys.
That’s not to mention the ridiculous price tag that would come as part of the trade. Not only would Tampa Bay have to send a massive package to Pittsburgh just to acquire Watt, they’d then have to extend him to what would likely be one of the league’s biggest contracts.
The belief is that Watt is seeking a contract that will place him above Myles Garrett as the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL. For reference, Garrett’s contract is worth $40 million per year and includes $123 million guaranteed.
That’s more than Buccaneers quarterback earned in the entirety of his three-year, $100 million contract he signed to stay in Tampa Bay following the 2023 season.
It would be very unlike Jason Licht to fork over the largest guaranteed money in franchise history to a player that’s never played a down in red and pewter.
Licht has made it known that his philosophy is to reward players that have already proven themselves as Buccaneers, rather than gambling on outside players, which burned him multiple times early in his tenure.
Expect the Buccaneers to continue practicing the philosophy that has made them a perennial playoff contender over the last five seasons, which is to continue to develop and count on their own guys, rather than making risky investments on unknown external assets.
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