Steelers Rumors: T.J. Watt Trade Interest Increases After Jalen Ramsey Deal

The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked the NFL on Monday when they picked up Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith in a trade with the Miami Dolphins that saw them send Minkah Fitzpatrick the other way. While there’s excitement surrounding this deal, the Steelers may have created more issues for themselves with star linebacker T.J. Watt.

All offseason long, Watt has been angling for a new contract from Pittsburgh, but to this point, there’s been very little progress made when it comes to agreeing to a new deal. That resulted in Watt skipping mandatory minicamp, indicating that the Steelers needed to give his deal some attention before the 2025 season.

Instead, Pittsburgh pulled off this blockbuster trade on Monday. And not only did they bring two new players to town, but they are also handing them both new deals. Ramsey earned a $1.5 million raise from the Steelers as part of this trade, while Jonnu Smith earned a one-year, $12 million extension after being acquired.

That surely won’t make Watt too happy, and it’s reportedly left teams across the league wondering whether he could be available on the trade market. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, while Pittsburgh has shown no signs of being interested in trading Watt, teams are expected to inquire about his status in the wake of this seismic move.

“Sources: In recent weeks, multiple teams have been discussing whether they can trade for Steelers’ standout T.J. Watt, who skipped the team’s most recent minicamp,” Schefter reported. “Sources believe outside team interest is likely to increase given today’s trade.”

Before this trade, all reports had indicated that a deal was expected to be completed at some point. For the first time, though, this big trade has seemed to result in trade rumors permeating the Watt contract saga, which will surely make for some interesting negotiations moving forward.

It remains highly unlikely that Watt will get traded, but the Steelers still have some work to do in the wake of this stunning trade. The sooner they extend Watt, the sooner these trade rumors go away, but it’s clear this situation just became a lot more interesting as training camp continues to draw near.

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