How are we feeling about the Watt contract?

[feltdizz]

I actually expected him to start hot and then fade but umm… its not looking good. The Pats game was great but overall its been a waste of money and we are on the hook for 2 more years I believe. If things continue it could cost Tomlin and Khan their gigs in another year. We didn’t learn from the Colbert years when we tried to hold onto aging vets but at least those guys won a few SB’s. We are holding onto vets who can’t win a playoff game. Colts might embarrass us this week.

[tiproast]

I'll be rooting for the Steelers to beat the Colts.

[Terrapin]

I think it sucks

[Buzz]

I didn't want us to lavish the big contract on Watt... in fact, I was calling for us to trade him while he was still under the last contract. I can remember when the Steelers were a little more shrewd about how they dealt with their aging vets.

["BuzzNuter"]

Homey you are right and you were right. We should never have given TJ 40M$ per. It is just a symptom of our problem Giving $ to someone who was great but now is living large and there is no.need to put it on the line. We need a complete overhaul. History has repeated itself. Art II like his grandfather is going after mercenary.talent only to fall on his face. This is a repeat of the sixties. We will blow this up when I'm not sure but I hope after this year per my prediction.

[Eich]

I really don't care about the Watt contract in general. But what I do care about is that the coaching and front office of the Steelers don't know what is needed to field even a remotely competent defense. Week in and week out, season in and season out, all we hear about from other teams, players and analysts is that this defense is predictable. And it's been showing on the field more and more as players age. It's not my money, so I don't care about how much the defense is paid or how much Watt is paid. But I'm feeling pretty awful about how everyone who's in charge of the Steelers, is putting together a team. We're likely to continue getting worse. And the Rats and Bungles are likely to continue getting better. If I had to bet, we're not winning the division. And we're certainly not winning a playoff game this year without drastic changes that this management seems incapable of.

[feltdizz]

Eich, I have an issue with it because its a symptom of a larger problem. I have a hard time believing folks were confident Watt would perform up to the level of this contract after watching the last 6 games of 2024. Most teams aren’t looking to reup a player at 30 years old. This is when teams start shedding players. But not the Steelers. Somehow we think we can beat father time and while QB’s can sometimes play into their late 30’a most decline and are a shell of their best days. If Rodgers had Higgins and Chase I think he could do some things. However, we sign guys like AR and then give them 1 WR and 12 TE’s thinking it will work. We went out and got older defendere and friends of mine who are Iggles fans and Bmore fans laughed because they knew these guys were cooked. Our player development is kinda stinky so I don’t believe paying old heads bug money will fix our problems. A better scheme isn’t going to make old players younger.

[hackjam]

It's a bad contract. It was always a bad contract. This was beyond predictable. Honestly, same with the Cam Heyward contracts. At least the last two. Those worked out OK but still poor decision making. Feels like they used to walk before the 3rd contract almost as a rule. Now when's the last time that happened... Joey Porter? I understood the tradeoff they were making back in 2011 or so when they were keeping the Super Bowl squad together for one more run, but it seems that the organization has totally lost focus in this area.

[Eich]

You're not wrong Felt. I'm just more concerned with the larger problem than Watt in general. He is the face of the defense and I knew they'd pay him. But this team has been going downhill well before the Watt contract. The Matt Canada experiment was atrocious. And now the defense is in complete shambles and it's not all on Watt. There's enough money spent on the defensive side of the ball that we should be able to field a competitive defense, even with expensive, old man Watt. This may be the worse defense in a decade, not long after coaches and players were talking about it being historically good. There's a LOT wrong here that doesn't fall on the Watt mistake.

[feltdizz]

I hear you Eich and by no means am I putting all of our woes on the Watt contract. I’m just asking if people regret the contract since it appears he isn’t living up to it and we still have 2 years left.

[hawaiiansteel]

If we were struggling like this and hadn't signed TJ, a lot of people would be blaming that as the reason why.

[Starlifter]

He's been a generational and likely HOF player. I agree his play fell off at the end of last year, but I attributed it to an overall decline in the defense that allowed teams to give him more attention. Kinda like what's happening this year. Receivers are getting open so fast, QB's don't have to hold on to the ball and look for something to develop. The #1 read has been maddeningly wide open most of the time. That alone will impact the stats for the D-line. What this is, is a long way for me to say - I didn't mind the contract. Contracts are always a crap shoot and I don't think it was totally unreasonable to think TJ had 3-4 strong years left. I also point out that even WITH his contract and cap hit - the Steelers have quite a bit of cap room available to them, so with respect to managing the team, it doesn't seem to me to be quite the anchor some suspect. There is a whole lot of 'old and slow' on this team - but I wouldn't put TJ in that category just quite yet.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I didn't like the contract and called for him to be traded prior. At the time it would have easily resulted in a first plus. To me, this is the kind of deal you make when you're afraid of losing a fan base. I'll compare to the soon-to-be World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays were a team who seemed to be close on every big name FA available for a couple of years, but never were able to sign them. Ohtani, Soto, Sasaki. All of these players played the game by engaging with all teams who were interested, giving the city false hope, and ending in the kind of disappointment that has fans questioning their continued support. When Vladimir Guerrero's contract discussions started, there was no option to not sign him, and the price was enormous - but had to be done to keep the fan base. No matter what, the Steelers are never in that position. The Steelers have an uncommon situation where the support is hardcore. Not only will the support remain but it won't go dormant in bad times - like the fair weather Cowboys fan base. My Toronto comparison for that is the Maple Leafs. Very few teams in sports can announce they are rebuilding and suck for the next five years without a decrease in fan support, but the Leafs and Steelers are two of those teams yet they don't take advantage of that.

[The Standard]

They fancy themselves a contender. They are delusional.

[Eich]

If we were struggling like this and hadn't signed TJ, a lot of people would be blaming that as the reason why.

That's a good point and you're right. But now that we did sign TJ and the defense stinks, the finger has to be pointed higher up the chain.