The Captains Have Spoken: Pay TJ Watt!

[Steeler Nation]

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain, Cam Heyward has spoken today, and offensive captain, Ben Roethlisberger spoke yesterday, and they both agree on one thing: Pay TJ Watt!

According to ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor‘s Twitter account, Heyward did some reflecting on last year’s contract negotiations with the Steelers and knows what TJ must be going through:

Cam Heyward, reflecting on his own contract negotiations a year ago: “I let my agent handle most of it. At the same time, it was, ‘What is it going to take?’ I’m sure TJ’s going through it now.

“For a guy like TJ, I know he wants it behind him. And we need to get it done.”

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 9, 2021

The offensive captain went on the offensive when asked his thoughts on the Watt negotiations. Ben continued to stress Watt’s importance when he said, “Watt is arguably THE best football player in the game right now, not just on defense, just in general.” Then Roethlisberger continued his thoughts on what the team should do:

Ben Roethlisberger incredibly firm on his team’s negotiations with Watt: “TJ Watt should get whatever the heck he wants. He’s one of the best players in the NFL, not just defensively.

Says he took less money so the team could do things like sign Watt.

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 8, 2021

When your Hall of Fame, franchise quarterback says he took a pay cut for situations like this, it sends a very strong message to the front office. Get this deal done now! Anything short of a signed contract before Sunday’s game will be a distraction at best, and a mutiny at worst.

Personally, I think this deal as far as amounts is already figured out. The sticking points are now guaranteed money and how much? Heyward had just over $26M guaranteed and received just over $20M the day he signed his 4-year $65.6M extension. Ben had $31M in guaranteed money in 2015 and $37.5M in guarantees in 2019 for his extension. Watt’s guaranteed number should be well over Ben’s amounts.






Even though the special teams captain Derek Watt, has yet to speak out on his brother’s new contract, I think he and all of Steeler Nation agrees with his other captains as Cam Heyward simply stated when he left the podium: “Pay TJ. Please.”

Ben Roethlisberger incredibly firm on his team’s negotiations with Watt: “TJ Watt should get whatever the heck he wants. He’s one of the best players in the NFL, not just defensively.

Says he took less money so the team could do things like sign Watt.

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 8, 2021

Do yinz think a deal will get done before Sunday? Click to comment below!

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[stillwright]

If Watt wasn't asking for something the Rooney's don't either do or feel comfortable with he already would be paid. They want to pay the man but on their terms. I hope they stick to their status quo. If Watt doesn't want give some concessions he always has option B. Play out his option year and Tag years then hit FA. If the Rooney's cave and pay guarantees into other years other than the first I hope they work a savings onto Watt's overall contract. Instead of say $30 mill average per season it is say $26 mill or say $27 mill per season.

 

[milkman dan]

I’m paraphrasing, but the best quote I heard about this was along the lines of if the org breaks precedent and guarantees money past year 1 for TJ Watt and then another player expects this in the future, then the team could still pretty easily just say “yeah, we broke precedent because that was TJ Watt. Your point?”. Seemed compelling enough to me. If a player negotiating an extension can rightfully invoke Watt in the discussion of why their play merits a similar contract, then great, do it, but it better be a compelling case they’re making.