The Pittsburgh Steelers have been talked about non-stop throughout the 2025 offseason as the organization has done a lot to change and upgrade the roster. The franchise has had a lot of turnover at many different positions on both sides of the ball, and a lot the moves have been seen as an effort to win now. Pittsburgh believes it can compete for a Super Bowl, but most fans are skeptical about the chances of that as the team has not won a playoff game since the 2016 season. A large portion of the fan base thinks the organization is delusional for the large aspirations in 2025, but only time will tell how well the new pieces of the roster fit in.
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Steelers' TJ Watt causes a turnover on Jalen Hurts during a Week 15 matchup.
Fans are also confused about the win-now approach because TJ Watt has still not been signed to a new deal. He is entering the final season of his contract, and he has made it clear that he will be holding out until a new deal is agreed to. It seems hard to win-now if the team is missing its best player, but Pittsburgh may have other reasons for being hesitant to re-sign Watt to a lucrative extension.
Vic Tafur recently wrote a piece for The Athletic where he stated that he did not think the Steelers would win nine games, but he also made an interesting comment about Watt's contract situation.
"The Steelers are all in, apparently, after their moves to get Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay," Tafur wrote. "Only Metcalf is anywhere near his prime, though, and the 'all-in' seems more like a final desperate move than one stemming from confidence in one’s holdings. The Steelers can finally start rebuilding next year — is that why they are reluctant to give pass rusher TJ Watt a new deal?"
Pittsburgh has not had much playoff success over the last decade, and fans have grown frustrated with the way the organization has seemed to continue to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Throughout the 2025 offseason, the Steelers have been more aggressive than ever, so Tafur is suggesting that this is one last effort to go on a run in the postseason, and if it doesn't work, things will look a lot different in 2026.
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Steelers linebacker TJ Watt goes through warmups on the field prior to kickoff on Christmas Day in 2024 as Pittsburgh prepares for a highly anticipated holiday matchup.
If the Steelers do give Watt the type of extension he is looking for, which would clearly be extremely lucrative and feature a ton of guaranteed money, it could put the organization in a rough spot for years to come. If it is four years of guaranteed money, the Steelers will have a hard time rebuilding, and it will look even worse if Watt's play declines during the last couple years of the deal.
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Steelers' Omar Khan speaking on the phone.
Steelers Could Enter Rebuilding Mode After The 2025 NFL Season
Pittsburgh is projected to have 12 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, and those picks can be used to build the roster, or they can be packaged to trade up and land a franchise quarterback. The Steelers also currently have over $73.5 million in cap space for the 2026 season, and over $179 million in 2027. The organization could make that number even larger too if it decides to part ways with any of the older, top-end talent it acquired during the 2025 offseason.
The Steelers have set themselves up well for the future, and an expensive Watt extension could hurt that a little bit. However, he is extremely important to the goal of winning during the 2025 season, and the entire situation puts the franchise in a bit of a tough situation. It is unlikely Watt gets traded, and the two sides should eventually come to a deal.
What do you think about the Steelers giving Watt another extension? Let us know in the comments below!
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