Another star pass rusher wants a raise and is encountering resistance from his team.
Steelers All-Pro defensive lineman T.J. Watt is absent from voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) and appears to be sending a message to the front office amid the dispute.
Meanwhile, his brother, former defensive stalwart and now CBS broadcaster J.J. Watt, implored the Steelers to take care of his brother during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I’ve long been a big believer that ownership and front offices obviously treat this as a business, but they do not like it when the players flip the script on them and treat it like a business back,” the ex-NFL star said when asked his brother going into the last year of his contract.
“If you take care of things early, especially when players want to take care of things earlier and say that they’ll take less money to take care of things earlier because it sets themselves up long term financially, do that.”
While J.J.’s comments don’t mention his brother directly being upset with the team, T.J. posted a peace sign to his Instagram account in April, perhaps referencing his unhappiness with his deal.
T.J. is entering the final year of a massive four year, $112 million contract, which he has largely outperformed to this point after the Steelers made one of their best picks in 2017 by selecting him at No. 30.
In the first year of his new deal in 2021, T.J. won Defensive player of the Year and tied Michael Strahan’s sack record of 22.5, which had stood untouched since 2002.
His contract is just the seventh-most lucrative deal in average salary per year ($28.02 million) among pass rushers, a market that has reset this offseason.
Fellow pass rushers like Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby have been rewarded this offseason with new record-setting deals.
The Steelers also gave their new receiver D.K. Metcalf an extension.
Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney II said he wants keep the prized defensive superstar, but the clock is ticking before Watt enters free agency.
The team could use the franchise tag, though, to delay the process.
“That’s something we want to look at this offseason. T.J. has been one of the foundations of the defense for quite a number of years now,” Rooney said in January, as reported by The Athletic. “And certainly hope we can have T.J. for the future, beyond this year.”
T.J. is not the only AFC North star pass rusher in a contract dispute, as Bengals standout Trey Hendrickson is holding out and said he won’t play under his current contract.