Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt is staging a hold-in. Although Watt has been in attendance at training camp since it opened, he is not participating in any hitting or team drills. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler confirmed that is because Watt is waiting on a contract extension.
“I don’t blame him for [sitting out] because you don’t want to get hurt when you are trying to get your contract done; then you lose some sort of flexibility in terms of what you can sign,” Butler said (via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic). “I hope they get it done.”
The Steelers do not like to engage in contract negotiations once a season begins, which means that the club’s Week 1 matchup with the Bills on September 12 would be the deadline for finalizing a Watt extension this year. But while head coach Mike Tomlin generally eases his top players into the grind of training camp, the team still wants Watt to get involved in team activities well before the regular season opener.
Regardless of when it happens, the Steelers will need to dole out a ton of cash to keep Watt in the fold for the long haul. Kaboly expects the Wisconsin product to become the highest-paid defensive player in league history, which would mean an AAV of over $27MM with roughly $80MM in full guarantees.
Watt’s performance to date justifies that type of expenditure. Stout against the run and pass, the 26-year-old (27 in October) graded out as Pro Football Focus’ third-best edge player last season out of 108 qualifiers. He is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All-Pro, and he has averaged about 14 sacks a year since his sophomore campaign. Even though Pittsburgh is entering something of an organizational crossroads due to its quarterback situation, retaining Watt seems like an absolute must.
The club did add a little pass rushing support for Watt when it signed Melvin Ingram last month. Pittsburgh was also in on Justin Houston, who ultimately signed with the division-rival Ravens. Houston himself said he was very close to signing with the Steelers, but that Baltimore was his first choice (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic). Ingram, like Houston, is a complementary piece at this stage of his career, and his presence doesn’t necessarily give Pittsburgh any more leverage in Watt negotiations.
Literally every decent player in the nfl holds out, why do they sign contracts that they are going to hold out on?
He’s on his rookie deal still, he had no choice but to sign it.
1. Teams don’t honor contracts they agree to, why should players? Teams cut guys mid contract all the time to save money.
2. Watt is playing on his rookie contract still. He’s only making 10 mill this year on his 5th year option. He’s at camp, not participating on stuff that could injure him and jeopardize him getting his first, possibly only, big pay day.
Teams honor contracts all the time. When they cut players, they have to give them their remaining guaranteed dollars. No exceptions.
Maybe players should write similar contracts.
players don’t get to write contracts
You call signing a guy to a 5 year contract and cutting him 2 years in “honoring a contract”?
And yes. Teams cut guys all the time to save cap room.
In fact, many teams approach players to restructure their initial contracts to create cap room. You call that “honoring a contract”?
Cause I sure don’t. Teams routinely cut contracts short and seek restructures to gain financial flexibility. Hardly honoring anything.
There should be more honoring of contracts going both ways. Ultimately, that’s irrelevant though-Watt is on his rookie deal, he has no real choice but to use that as his inaugural deal.
That said, I don’t see what it serves for him to hold out. The Steelers certainly will not begin negotiations in time to have a new deal in place before the start of the season, and they certainly won’t negotiate during the year. That said, they’re a team that usually retains their own star players in house, and I doubt that Watt needs to hold out or hold in to convince them to pay. It seems premature to do so now before any offer has been made and when the team has a history of not doing contract extensions this time of year. Watt’s got time, there’s no need to go hold out at the moment. I don’t think anyone expects Pittsburgh to lowball him and show him the door when the time comes.
They aren’t “starting” anything. They’ve been in talks all offseason. It’ll get done before the season. Hence the hold in.
Why are people struggling to grasp this so much?
People aren’t struggling to grasp anything. They’re disagreeing with you.
You said the Steelers, and I quote, “certainly will not begin negotiations in time to have a new deal in place before the start of the season”.
That is possibly the dumbest thing I have ever heard on this board.
Really? That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard? That’s not just you being biased and so pro-Steelers that you consider this to be an offensive take for some reason?
I’ll admit that I was wrong because I thought that negotiations hadn’t yet begun. I was wrong about that and I realize that. But I still think, for the same reasons, that a “hold-in” is pointless in Watt’s case because it isn’t actually applying any pressure. The Steelers will not let him walk, and both parties know that. Watt isn’t trying to leave, either. So why even do it? The only reason would be to add pressure, which is ultimately irrelevant here because Pittsburgh will eventually tag him over letting him leave. But they’ll give Watt a deal instead. We all know it. That’s all. Don’t why that’s so offensive for you. I’m finished with the topic as is.
The most basic of takes
Funny how some can’t understand what a “contract” means. NFL teams should not have to honor the 5 year rookie contract unless the come at a discount because the rate at which players bust is fairly high. Teams need to see production before they decide to go forward with extensions. Changing the length of the rookie contract could provide some useful aspects to reduce hold outs.
Again though players sign contracts in free agency and then want more money when someone else makes more, even though they choose to sign the deal. Players are the most greedy in most situations. Sure rookies have no rights but teams can’t hand out millions to guys who can’t hang in the league. Look at wrs and qbs when they aren’t the highest paid in the league they hold out…
I really don’t understand why a HC would allow a player to come to camp if that player isn’t going to put in any work. Pretty hard to motivate other players to bust their butts when they see that Watt is allowed to sit around doing nothing.
100% agree. Watt, X Howard, & Watson ‘showed up’ not to be fined.
…because there is more to camp than just practice? If you feel that way then all injured players should just not show up either, eh?
Dude is about to get PAID. The only thing that is going to stop that is if he tears an achilles or blows out a knee or has some other freak accident. Why on earth would anyone risk that kind of money on training camp?
He’s in camp because both sides know a deal is getting done soon and both he and they would rather he be around the team than sitting at home.
Why play football at all? You could get injured doing absolutely nothing…like celebrating a sack. The risk of injury comes with the territory. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t be paid what they’re paid. Avoiding injury is smart except when you avoid the tasks that make you worth the money to begin with.
Watt doesn’t need to hold out. The Steelers normally retain their drafted talent, and Watt may be the best defender in the league, alongside Aaron Donald. But the Steelers are a team with an established negotiating window, and that’s pretty much passed. They’ve bedn attempting to clear cap space while addressing roster concerns and have a lot to do before extending Watt. But they won’t let him walk.without a competitive offer. He just needs to wait-and if they, he can leave and get more elsewhere if he’d like to. Holding out won’t change the Steelers’ strategy because they have other business to take care of to make room for Watt’s deal as is.
You aren’t seeing the forest through the trees bud. Not arguing common sense further. If someone told you all you had to do to be guaranteed $25M+/year was not get seriously hurt for a few weeks until it was finalized, I bet you’d be at home wrapped in bubble wrap and sitting in a bathtub of packing peanuts.
Okay, sure I would, but that doesn’t make me right for doing so or logically consistent. I am just saying that Watt will be in Pittsburgh a long time. I don’t think he or anyone else thinks that the Steelers will let him go. Therefore holding out (or in, either one) seems unnecessary in his case. He is going to be there, so building or maintaining goodwill between him and his bosses/coworkers is more valuable long term than holding out for an outcome he’s likely to get anyway.
Yes, please! Don’t threaten me with a good time!
This is such a b*tch move. Show up so you don’t get fined, but refuse to work. This type of behavior needs to be addressed in the new CBA. Sack up and stay home. Seriously you guys, the 1% have it SO HARD.
Players would have to agree to such thing and I doubt they will since so little do something like this . Why would they need a rule
Sure, you can choose to assume thats his goal here. Or maybe he feels that being present and around his teammates and coaches (who, you know, have 0% to do with his contract negotiations) is what is best for himself, the defense, and the team?
How exactly would him sitting at home waiting for his agent and the FO to end their staring match benefitting anyone?
It would make the agent and front office get a deal done faster.
Uhh, what exactly makes you think that?
If expectations are that Watt will eventually be the highest paid defensive player in history, then the fines for missing camp are rather irrelevant. Maybe he feels he can offer morale support to his teammates but I think he might actually end up being just another distraction that coaches don’t need when running training camp.
Can’t believe my Packers passed on him in the draft
Yeah drafted one spot in front the Steelers and traded down with Cleveland and selected Kevin King and Biegel with the picks we got…..
….one of the worst draft day trades in more modern history. Granted Cleveland took Njoku who wasn’t anything special either.
Don’t feel bad the cowboys pass before packs did
Given that the Cowboys at least drafted some starters in the last two drafts, I can understand the Packers fans’ frustration with the front office. Especially since Watt was a popular pick for the team.
You know what might solve all of these holdouts? Get rid of the franchise and transition tags. Players like Watt hold out because they don’t have much leverage in these situations. If they show up and play well, teams can just franchise tag them at the end of the year. Sure the player gets a guaranteed salary but most guys are looking for security (i.e. more than one year guaranteed). If you’re a first round pick, you’re looking at possibly 7 years where you can’t really negotiate your salary and the last three years (5th year option and two franchise tags) are essentially one year deals. If the player gets hurt, then they’re usually taking some sort of one year prove it deal to rebuild their value afterwards.
And I don’t doubt that if Watt were to play through the season without a new contract (and doesn’t get hurt/have an absolutely terrible year), the Steelers would tag him as a LB instead of an edge rusher in order to try and save a few dollars on the tag.
Being able to tag a second time is bush league for sure. The first one doesn’t bug me too much, but I’d be fine with it going away.
I don’t know, I’d say making more contract money guaranteed would do a better job than getting rid of the tag. The tag benefits players financially more than most would like to admit (really because it’s bad for the agent who wants to advertise his/her negotiating a new top of the market deal), because it’s a huge sum of money that’s also guaranteed.
I think most players hold out at the advice of agents who want to use players as advertising, and most players-not all, but most-would feel more comfortable with security. Players would have to worry less about a team cutting them midway through a longer deal if the team would be on the hook for guaranteed money. I think that’s eliminate more holdouts because that’s more the situation on the player’s mind in my opinion. Of course there will always be the “I want to be paid more than anyone else” holdouts no matter what, but I think most players would be more comfortable with guaranteed overall and feel less of an urgency to boycott team activities. The tag is sometimes a negotiating issue, but guarantees always are.