Watt's Up with T.J.?

[NorthCoast]

again you have ZERO clue on what his training has been like or how intensive its been you are only assuming he has been slacking ...

dont give me this bull**** about if you have been watching football as long as me **** , hell I have probably been watching longer than you have been alive but I would never use that as a baseline of knowledge , age might be good for life experience but its not a tool to base on specific types knowledge ...

again "football shape" is an over blown term as if its some space age conditioning ... TJ has been playing this game since he was a very young child , the team trainers have been around this game for a very long time , they know their Job , they know their goals , they know what the hell they are doing and how to achieve these things .... you make it sound like he is sitting on a lounge chair in the Bahamas sipping on cocktails but the fact is he is working with football professionals each and every day on conditioning , position drills etc he is just doing these things off to the side alone where other bodies can not trip him up and cause /create injuries .... he isnt sitting their watching eating cupcakes all day...

we have seen this before with Hines Ward , Troy , most recently Cam Heyward they all came ready to play and play well ... do not make more of it then what it is

Moats was on SNR a few days back talking on what he witnessed on Watt's typical regimen in the preseason. He said Watt was one of the most rigorous practicers out there during daily reps. Moats is concerned he wasn't following the same routine this season because of the contract status.
You may be right though. It's tough to say how hard he has been soloing with trainers this summer. I don't see him as a dumb player though. I think he knows his body well enough that he can avoid early injury.

[feltdizz]

Didn't they say he'd be the highest paid defensive player? Or was that just someone from local media saying they said that.

I think Bosa is currently the highest at $27M AAV

No.. a reporter predicted this. It may happen but we also know Pittsburgh media will say anything.

[feltdizz]

Moats was on SNR a few days back talking on what he witnessed on Watt's typical regimen in the preseason. He said Watt was one of the most rigorous practicers out there during daily reps. Moats is concerned he wasn't following the same routine this season because of the contract status.
You may be right though. It's tough to say how hard he has been soloing with trainers this summer. I don't see him as a dumb player though. I think he knows his body well enough that he can avoid early injury.

I don’t think you can avoid injuries..

no matter how hard he trains playing full speed with contact is a gear he simply hasn’t used yet this year. Whole I hope he is primed and ready I think it’s definitely a possibility due to the way he plays the game on Sundays.

[feltdizz]

His choices are probably something like
(1) sign a long term deal to be the highest paid defensive player on the league.
(2) play under the 5th year option and 2x tags (LB tags so they are probably much less than the contract aav in (1); or
(3) pull a Bell / AB and sit out a year or melt down publicly so he's so toxic the team has to dump him

I'm assuming that he's not an idiot and will choose (1).

I think his choices are:

1) get paid a nice amount but not the highest paid defender when you look at the real numbers

2) play on the tag next year

3) sit out

I think he takes 1 or 2 but I think it also shows that the face of greed isn’t Bell and AB..

add Watt to that list.

["BuzzNuter"]

When you say he knows his body and he trains hard that can be true but consider the physics of football. You cannot as far as I know duplicate the sheer impact of the Edge rusher position. He is going to be stopped with his best effort and the momentum backwards exerts force on those hamstrings and arms and shoulders. You understand. He just won't be used to the impacts. He has missed all those hits. Has he ever gone through a pre-season before without contact? Contact is part of football shape and Watt will not be in football shape. The Bills game for him will probably not happen unless he gets back in it by tomorrow.

[Disco1981]

Hearing Watt might get tagged...Called it, He's tired of Tomlins Cupcake Factory

[feltdizz]

Watt wants to get PAID. I don’t blame him for wanting big money but if this is all about being paid the most or breaking our antiquated contract structure… well good luck on that.

[Northern_Blitz]

No.. a reporter predicted this. It may happen but we also know Pittsburgh media will say anything.

Thanks Felt.

I hope we can leverage the fact that the LB tag is so low.

[hawaiiansteel]

Did T.J. Watt Hint Contract Extension with the Steelers?

Published on September 1, 2021
By Cale Berger

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt may have just hinted that either he is close to signing his contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Watt shared an picture of himself signing autographs for Steeler fans pregame on his Instagram story Wednesday, which could be a subtle indication that he has put pen to paper with the team as well.

While Watt has not played in the preseason or participated in the team portions of training camp, he has been negotiating with the team all along.

Considering the Steelers do not negotiate in-season, the franchise and Watt are quickly running out of time to come to an agreement.

If a deal is reached, it is very likely Watt will become the highest-paid defensive player in the league.

Watt finished as the runner up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year a season ago, but does already have three consecutive Pro Bowl nods and back-to-back First-Team All-Pro selections to his name.

He led the league with both 15 sacks and 23 tackles-for-loss in 2020. Watt also recorded 53 combined tackles and 41 quarterback hits.

https://steelersnow.com/did-t-j-watt-hint-contract-extension-with-the-steelers/

[feltdizz]

“either he is close to signing?”

what a weird sentence

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

“either he is close to signing?”

what a weird sentence

Agreed. I also find it odd that someone would write an article linking him posting pictures of himself signing autographs and him being about to sign his contract. That would be right up there with "he believes in UFOs because I saw him look upwards once."

[Northern_Blitz]

Hearing Watt might get tagged...Called it, He's tired of Tomlins Cupcake Factory

Anyone who thinks Watt will get tagged this year doesn't know what they are talking about.

We already elected to pick up TJ's 5th year option. He's already under contract this year.

He might get tagged next off season. But he certainly wouldn't want that since the LB tag is probably $10M - $15M lower than the AAV he'll get on a long term deal.

There's no separate tag value for OLB and ILB. It's just LB @ ~ $15.6M.

Dupree grieved it when he was tagged saying he was more like a DE (tag value ~ $17.8M). I never heard if he won or not.

But I think Dave at the Depot said he never saw it hit their cap...and he professes to check the NFLPA site for the Steelers cap number every day.

[Northern_Blitz]

Agreed. I also find it odd that someone would write an article linking him posting pictures of himself signing autographs and him being about to sign his contract. That would be right up there with "he believes in UFOs because I saw him look upwards once."

Gotta hit those deadlines.

And can't afford editors.

[feltdizz]

Anyone who thinks Watt will get tagged this year doesn't know what they are talking about.

We already elected to pick up TJ's 5th year option. He's already under contract this year.

He might get tagged next off season. But he certainly wouldn't want that since the LB tag is probably $10M - $15M lower than the AAV he'll get on a long term deal.

There's no separate tag value for OLB and ILB. It's just LB @ ~ $15.6M.

Dupree grieved it when he was tagged saying he was more like a DE (tag value ~ $17.8M). I never heard if he won or not.

But I think Dave at the Depot said he never saw it hit their cap...and he professes to check the NFLPA site for the Steelers cap number every day.

You are focusing on the wrong part. That was just another chance to dog out Tomlin.

[Oviedo]

Anyone who thinks Watt will get tagged this year doesn't know what they are talking about.

We already elected to pick up TJ's 5th year option. He's already under contract this year.

He might get tagged next off season. But he certainly wouldn't want that since the LB tag is probably $10M - $15M lower than the AAV he'll get on a long term deal.

There's no separate tag value for OLB and ILB. It's just LB @ ~ $15.6M.

Dupree grieved it when he was tagged saying he was more like a DE (tag value ~ $17.8M). I never heard if he won or not.

But I think Dave at the Depot said he never saw it hit their cap...and he professes to check the NFLPA site for the Steelers cap number every day.

Consider the Troll who posted it