Steelers Rumors: T.J. Watt ‘Unhappy’ With Pittsburgh Amid Contract Stalemate

The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a stunning blockbuster trade on Monday, acquiring Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith from the Dolphins and sending Minkah Fitzpatrick back to the team that drafted him in 2018. While Pittsburgh did well to add talent to its team, the Steelers might have created more problems for themselves when it comes to T.J. Watt.

Throughout the offseason, Watt has been angling for a new contract, as he’s entering the final year of his current deal in 2025. To this point, though, there hasn’t been much progress made towards a new extension, which resulted in Watt skipping mandatory minicamp earlier in June.

For the most part, there hasn’t been much reason to panic when it comes to this situation. Sure, Watt doesn’t have a deal in place, but the overarching expectation from folks close to the situation was that an extension would be reached sooner rather than later. However, this trade may have changed things.

The Steelers handed Ramsey a $1.5 million raise and Smith a one-year, $12 million contract extension after completing this deal, which surely caught Watt’s attention. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Watt is “unhappy” with how his contract situation has been handled, which could lead to trade rumors popping up around him.

“Pittsburgh hasn’t shown any willingness to deal Watt so far, but he’s unhappy with his contractual situation,” Schefter reported in a post on X.

While the superstar defender isn’t thrilled about where his contract situation stands, Pittsburgh hasn’t indicated they are willing to trade him, and that seems unlikely to change. However, they are going to have to head back to the negotiating table sooner rather than later in order to prevent the situation from spiraling.

Acquiring Ramsey and Smith is a win for the Steelers, but an unintended consequence of this trade was Watt’s reaction to what took place. There’s still time for a new contract to be hammered out, but it looks like Pittsburgh is going to have to figure something out soon if they want to appease its franchise legend.

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