Is T.J. Watt On Commerce Desk For Steelers?

Is T.J. Watt now on the trade table for the Steelers after the Minkah Fitzpatrick move?

Teams have begun calling the Steelers about T.J. Watt with increased frequency, but is he really on the trade table? Since they dealt Minkah Fitzpatrick in a trade that brought them Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, they are clearly open for business. Or at least they were—but are they done, or will they entertain interesting offers?

It’s hard to imagine T.J. Watt not finishing his career with the Steelers, but they’re in a tough spot. At this point, they’re looking at paying him $40 million or more, with two or three years guaranteed. He is on the wrong side of 30, and he recorded his lowest sack total in a healthy season since his rookie year. At what point, and with what compensation, do you seriously entertain a trade?

Mind you, even without a trade on the mind for Watt, the Steelers have insulated themselves at outside linebacker. Even they like to call Nick Herbig a starter in waiting, and Alex Highsmith has already proven himself. To that, they just added Jack Sawyer in the fourth round, and you can throw Jeremiah Moon or Julius Welschof into the mix.

One has to wonder how far apart the two sides might be, especially in comparison to the last contract negotiation. There was no way the Steelers would have entertained a trade at that time, but T.J. Watt is nearly 31. Generally, they refuse to be the team that does things just because other teams are doing them. If they don’t feel Watt merits $80-plus million in guarantees at this point in his career, they won’t do it.

And if he draws a line in the sand, what then? Let’s say a team calls and offers a first-round pick and then some to trade for T.J. Watt. I know a lot of Steelers fans would pull the trigger on that trade, but what the Steelers?

One key factor is the 2025 season, in which they appear to be going all in. Even with an eye toward the 2026 NFL Draft, they seem to believe they can win with Aaron Rodgers. It would make no sense for the Steelers to trade Watt while also trading for DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, and Jonnu Smith. Of course, they also traded George Pickens and Minkah Fitzpatrick—but neither of them are T.J. Watt.

The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.

Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. While they ultimately traded George Pickens, they have other decisions to make. The 2025 NFL Draft class is now behind us, so most of the roster construction is complete.

But we still have a long offseason ahead for Steelers football, or football in shorts. At least we can finally put the Aaron Rodgers situation to bed and move on to other things. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go.