J.J. Watt Breaks Silence on Why He Didn’t Sign With the Steelers

Getty Former edge rusher J.J. Watt opened up about how close he came to signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021.

Rumors that J.J. Watt could come play for the Pittsburgh Steelers have swirled over the last couple years. While appearing on the Green Light Podcast with the Long brothers, the five-time first-team All-Pro defensive end confirmed there was good reason for the rumors.

Watt shared with former NFL players Chris and Kyle Long that he very seriously considering joining the Steelers when he was a free agent in 2021.

But because of his brother’s ongoing contract negotiations at the time, he chose to sign elsewhere.

“They were [on the list],” Watt said. “It certainly would have been awesome to play with my brothers, but T.J. was also going through the contract situation there, so the last thing I wanted to do was come in and take any money away from his contract.”

The Steelers made T.J. Watt the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player that offseason. The contract was worth a little more than $112 million over five seasons with $80 million guaranteed.

But the Steelers and T.J. didn’t agreed to the new deal until days before the season opener.

J.J. Watt Chose the Arizona Cardinals Over Steelers in 2021 NFL Free Agency

Despite reworking quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s contract, the Steelers were in a salary cap crunch throughout the 2021 offseason. Coming off the 2020 COVID season, the NFL salary cap caused many teams to have problems with their payrolls.

The Steelers didn’t agree to a new contract with T.J. until four days before the Week 1 opener against the Buffalo Bills.

That made it just about impossible for J.J. to sign with the Steelers for fair market value. He agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with $23 million guaranteed with the Arizona Cardinals.

J.J. joked on Twitter on February 17 that even now at 34 years old, he wouldn’t play for league minimum to be teammates with T.J. and his other brother Derek Watt.

J.J. had just 1 sack before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury during Week 7 in 2021. But he had 12.5 sacks in 16 games this past season.

The Steelers could have used J.J.’s pass rushing presence in 2022 as T.J. dealt with his own injury problems during the first half of last fall.

Could J.J. Watt Come Out of Retirement to Play for the Steelers?

However, the question going forward is whether a J.J.-Steelers union is still possible. The potential of the Steelers signing the five-time All-Pro remains a popular topic among Pittsburgh fans.

J.J. shared as much on the May 15 episode of the “Pardon My Take” podcast.

“The Steelers fans are literally one of the best fan bases I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” Watt said. “Everywhere I go, ‘Hey, I love you but I’m a huge Steelers fan so I love your brother… Hey, come to the Steelers.’ It’s unbelievable.”

Officially, J.J. is retired. During his guest appearance on “Pardon My Take,” he also squashed any chance of returning to the league.

But former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor didn’t rule out the future Hall of Fame defensive end coming back during the season if the right circumstance came.

“If the Pittsburgh Steelers have a shot in getting into the playoffs, and they’re winding up getting to the playoffs, and over the course of the season might have a few injuries, they may not like what they see in terms of free agency,” said Taylor. “You got J.J. at home sitting at the crib. Don’t be surprised.”

Right now, though, that’s merely a pipe dream. Instead of another Watt brother coming to Pittsburgh, Steelers fans are left with a what if from the 2021 offseason.