will TJ stay?

Micah is 26 and TJ is 30. Not a ton of difference. I agree they shouldn’t give him a 5-6 year deal but he’s been our best player for years now. I understand what you’re saying. He’s getting older and would be a cap hit as he gets older especially if they give him a massive contract which I don’t think they will. It’s Pittsburgh they don’t hand out big contracts easily like a lot of other teams. I guess we’ll see.

 

After much deliberation I came up with:

Yes

 

TJ yes will factor in. highsmith's goes up. DK metcalfs goes up. queens goes up. warren may have to be signed. austin? porter? washington? jones 5th year option. a QB. i think they can and will make up 20 mil.

 

There is a difference Watt will turn 31 this season, they should offer him a 3-4 year deal no 5 year deals.

 

I think you commented on a post (recently) on the general cap spending, something akin to "it's not my money and I don't worry about it". Of course my aging mind may be full of crap in these remembrances, but it comforts me to know that you deliberate and say yes to something you may indeed really do not worry about. If they sign him to 40 plus million or he takes the hometown discount of far less, my life will not be changed either way, lol.

 

The 5 year designation is this teams way of saying void years, hell they could really have fun and throw out 50 million and reset the market, it's the guaranteed bucks that only really matter.

 

Yes

 

Watching TJ leave will be like watching Franco, Greene, Lloyd, Fanceca, Woodson, Lake, Harrison (2x) leave. Some players are meant to retire in black and gold

 

But sometimes the kids grow up and fly the coup

 

If He goes somewhere else, I will never buy another Jersey unless a player retires with us.

 

not looking good right now. he is under contract. may be his best chance to win it so far, you would think he'd welcome that.

 

The Steelers have 3 bad choices

1) Overpay him

2) Let him play this year and maybe tag him next year

3) Trade him for what would probably be a day two pick

Personally he has a contract agreed to by both sides so I would let him play this year on it

Just my current thought

 

I sign him to a 4 year 160m deal, 120 guaranteed

1st Year 60m
2nd Year 50m
3rd Year 35m
4th Year 15m

I frontloaded this deal to give them an out in Year 4 in case father time catches up by Year 3.

 

I love tj but i would never give him that kind of money expecially guarantes what if has some injurie ?

 

That's the risk you take in any deal with any player. Look at it this way, would you rather front load it or evenly space the deal and risk paying him 35-40m the final year and he's not remotely the player he once was.

 

maybe i'm wrong but if you space the deal you have bigger cap hit but less dead money and you can cut him anytime

 

I mean...


If the Steelers do sign TJ Watt, they will have to ensure that they manage his snap count properly. A hidden detail about T.J.s 2021 DPOY Performance is that per OverTheCap, T.J. Watt only played 65% percent of the snaps. Of the eight total seasons he has played thus far, 2021 remains one of his lowest; 2022 being the lowest due to an injury he sustained. His third lowest is his rookie season at 76.4%.


Every other season?! He is above 80% of the snap count; 2018-2020 and 2023 to 2024. That amount of snaps isn't sustainable. For that matter, Pittsburgh faced a similar problem with Cameron Heyward. In the 13 years Cameron has played, eight of those have been seasons where he has played over 80% of the snaps. Him being gone in 2023 was no accident either; a bad injury but also way too many snaps as a whole. 2024 though is when that finally changed; Cameron Heyward only playing 71.2% of the snaps.


How does something as small as a snap percentage mean so much?! The more a player plays, the more fatigue sets in. The more fatigue sets in, the greater the risk of injury. Granted, there are exceptions to these rules but those are so few and far between. Regarding Watt though, this is of significant importance.



If Pittsburgh still wants high level play from Watt, Tomlin and the Coaching Staff must adapt their ways. Thankfully, the selection of Jack Sawyer gives me some hope that Pittsburgh might finally be bucking that trend. Nick Herbig can add to the amount of rest as well. Like Cameron Heyward, the team added even more depth to aid in managing Heywards ability; him being only a headful of Defensive Lineman in NFL History to earn First Team All Pro at the age of 35.



Long story short?! Manage T.J.s reps. Reap the rewards soon after.

 

Essentially the way I designed that deal is it's a 3 year 145m contract with a 15m option/out year, which is really 48m/ year deal. All of the guaranteed $$$ is paid off after year 3, so there's no dead cap if they decide to cut him year 4. Dead cap tends to come from the guaranteed $$$ owed, which is why it's a non-issue.

 

i think #2. let him play it out, tag him and try to get a contract at that point.

 

ah ok is still a lot of money but i understand

 

would be the best option but i doubt he will play under that terms

 

depends. he will want a good season going into free agency. if not he's a year older with fading credentials. whether they would be or just imagined with him trying to finish out unhurt before free agency or he balls out and shows he's still got it. teams will base his worth on this season. if he declines, his price goes down. his age will be going up as well. quite interesting how this will go.

 

Yep. It might seem to some like Kahn is sitting there "oh crap, we gotta spend a bunch of money next year. What to do?"

GMs work 3 or 4 years in advance, not year to year like some might believe.

 

Heyward has averaged ~70% snap count the last three seasons. I can see Watt in the same ballpark going forward, especially if Sawyer ends up being the edge the Steelers think he can be. They also have Herbig available.

Too bad they can't use snap count as a lever in negotiations. "Oh, you want $41M? Well, that is for full time pay but you'll only be playing 70% of the time. So, $41M X 70% = $29M! That's your new salary. Take it or leave it!"