Trade TJ Watt. Now.

[6Trophies]

It shoulda been done before the awful contract was given to him.

Stevie Wonder can see how TJ Watt contract and his performance this year compared to Myles Garrett contract and his performance this year. And the difference in how both players will perform during their contract term.

Per Brian Batko...

"First off, there's no denying his production has waned. There's also not one, not two, but three younger edge rushers behind him in the pecking order who are either playing great now, have a bright future, or both. That contract is a real albatross, though. You'd probably have to find a team that runs a similar defense, has cap space and might just be one pass-rushing piece away from winning a Super Bowl. I'll throw out the Patriots and Rams."

I like TJ Watt and appreciate his level and style of play. But I'm not a "he must retire with the Steelers" guy. Never have been. Never will be. When players (like coaches) have reached the end of their useful lives to the team they gotta go. And they rarely leave on their own so the team needs to help them go.

[Stosh-67]

https://12thmanrising.com/steelers-play ... ream-trade

Steelers’ playoff flop just cracked the door open for Seahawks dream trade.

[SteelerDayTrader]

[Dan Smith--BYU]

The problem is not trading Watt, the problem is trading his overblown contract.

The time to show him the door was last summer but if any team is stupid enough to eat that contract do it.

[W&M_Steeler]

Probably too late now. Maybe the Lions would be willing to give something, but it might have to be a Ostweiler like trade where the Steelers give away Watt and a good draft pick in exchange for a low pick and the resulting cap relief of getting out of a bad contract.

I'd like to see DK sent away too.

[W&M_Steeler]

https://12thmanrising.com/steelers-play ... ream-trade

Steelers’ playoff flop just cracked the door open for Seahawks dream trade.

The trade deadline has passed already, so he can't be traded this season.

[Dan Smith--BYU]

If Rooney weren't suck a cuck fetishist they could have gotten rid of the DK problem when the suspension gave them the opportunity.

[Steelafan77]

No one [smart] will trade a bazooka Joe piece of bubble gum for watt at this point.

Certainly can’t expect a 1st round or 2nd rounder at this point. 3rd rounder seems doable.

The guy is on the wrong side of 30 and has his own injury history.

Let’s not forget the outrageously overly paid contract for an elder vet with injury history.

Nope, the Steelers stepped in a pretty deep hole and are now stuck with him.

If someone was that dumb they likely won’t be around long as a nfl GM long.

They would have to negotiate how much of the contract the Steelers would eat as a condition of a trade.

[.Kodiak]

Somehow PIT is projected to have $39.0M in cap space, good for 10th in the league.

But DAMN look at the teams around and ahead of them:
Team Cap Space
Chargers 103,578,588
Titans 96,700,009
Raiders 88,991,635
Seahawks 69,936,458
Rams 69,012,843
Commanders 67,309,701
Jets 66,508,337
Bengals 57,275,627
Patriots 46,111,080
Steelers 39,022,418
49ers 37,281,585
Broncos 35,098,385
Colts 33,846,264


Like I said before, if PIT restructures some of these contracts they can trade salary cap for picks. Would be a smart move since they aren't going to be paying a franchise QB for at least a few years (likely longer).

This team can be very competitive in a year or two, but probably not a real contender given the QB position. They should trade TJ and Cam if they can. I think they can definitely work out a deal to trade TJ if they restructure. DK I'm on the fence - you can't completely gut the roster and you have to spend 90% of your cap.

I'd also consider trading Boswell. He'll be 35 next year. He's got maybe 2-3 elite years left, and another 2-3 after that. That's a tougher decision than DK. Or maybe not - LOT of guys booting 50-60+ yard FGs consistently, and Boswell doesn't have much longer in that group.

[Dan Smith--BYU]

It's amazing how well the Rams benefitted from the Goff trade not only in terms of getting Stafford but not overpaying vets when they didn't have low paying draft choices.

[SteelerDayTrader]

I think TJ is worth a 3rd and 6th in 2027

Dumbfuck Rooneys chose not to void the massively overpriced contract they gave DK. So he’s probably only worth a 4th and 7th in 2027

Highsmith is a solid player but 29 in August. He’s probably worth a 3rd

Friermuth probably nets a 4th

I’ll call Ramsey a 3rd

Queen a 4th

That’s probably it as far as guys you’d like to move on from with any real trade value

So maybe 3 3rds and 3 4ths

I think the draft kinda sucks this year at first glance


According to prosportstransactions the Steelers currently have

1 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 7

I’d happily trade the Watt Highsmith Ramsey 3rds and DK 4th to get into the 2nd

And I’d happily trade the three remaining 4ths and Keanu Benton to get another 3

And 6 6 and Boswell for a 4th

The Steelers draft after all of that

1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 7

Massive cap space available as well

[Stosh-67]

I dont know Kodiak.

Boswell seems like he stays in great shape.

I do not think he is in the top 10 of highest paid kickers at $5 mil per.?

But half the kickers in the league probably make less than $2 mil per.

Boz has 299 career FGs. Going to be 35
Vinatieri had less than that going into his age 35 season..................and went on to kick over 300 more and is the all time leader.
Probably did his best work on 50+ fgs after age 40...
Played to 47.

There are certainly some bad contracts on this team.

DK and TJ being the two biggest that they will regret.

DK $49 million in dead cap
TJ $94

Where else to save.

2026 cap hits in highest salary after the above two.

Highsmith $20.1 million ( 11.2 dead ) FA 2028 ( $8.9 in savings - roll with Herbig, Sawyer and draft + cheap vet FA)

Cam $19.15 ( 4.9 dead) 2026 is last year of contract. Something has to give. No longer has Tomlin in his corner. He'll be 37 before the summer,
Thats $14.25 in savings. Harmon, Benton, Yayha, add a top 100 pick to that group.

Ramsey $17.3 ( $14.6 dead ) FA 2029. Not getting cut.

Queen $17.2 ( $3.9 dead ) he is 27 and its the last year of his contract. Thats $13.3 in savings if he is cut.
He is not that noticable at $17 million a year. If they like him and want to extend him..........I do not see him taking much of a pay cut at 27.

Mooth $11.2 ( $6.3 dead ) not a FA until 2029. Hopefully they bring in a Kubiak or Offensive minded HC and use him.

Jonnu $10.9 ( $3.9 dead) last year of contract and 31. Thats $7 in savings and obvious, knowing you keep the youinger Mooth ( 27 ) you have Darnell and hope to bring in a modern NFL TE in this draft.

Warren $7 and ($4) FA 2028 - going nowhere

Malik $6.8 ( $2 )

Elliot $6 ( $4 ) FA 2028

Broderick $5.3 ( $5.3 ) not getting the 5th year option. lets see if he comes back. Injury settlement?

Boz $4.7 ( $1.6 ) last year of contract.

[steelmann58]

One year to late not seeing any team making a deal for him now

[Dan Smith--BYU]

"1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 7"

Considering what Khan does with third round draft choices lately that doesn't solve anything.

Tho Wilson and Johnson player development is on Tomlin.

[Jobu]

"1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 7"

Considering what Khan does with third round draft choices lately that doesn't solve anything.

Tho Wilson and Johnson player development is on Tomlin.

Or maybe they were just bad picks. Who knows?
With Gainwell likely walking, and the WR room looking frail again, they should both get their chance. We’ll see what the new regime does with them…

[.Kodiak]

One year to late not seeing any team making a deal for him now

If they convert most of that guaranteed salary to SB, they could make his cap hit tiny. I'm not sure how tiny is allowed or makes sense, but they could make it very attractive to a team even TJ is no longer a top-10 edge (which I think is debatable).

So could be worth a late R1 to a team that's 1 player away. Not worth hardly crap at $40M, but if PIT eats a bunch of SB and a new team only pays TJ $10M per year?

[steelmann58]

You think Art going to eat any money. I look to get a 2027 pick

[.Kodiak]

You think Art going to eat any money. I look to get a 2027 pick

No, he's not going to eat money. And he's not going to rehire Tomlin. That's why we aren't getting a pick, if the contract still even exists (which I highly doubt).

He's been blown out in his last 6 or 7 playoff games. Who in the hell is giving up draft capital for that? Who would think Tomlin is the guy that gets your team a SB when he hasn't even been competitive in a playoff game in nearly a decade?!?

[CKSteeler]

No one [smart] will trade a bazooka Joe piece of bubble gum for watt at this point.

Certainly can’t expect a 1st round or 2nd rounder at this point. 3rd rounder seems doable.

The guy is on the wrong side of 30 and has his own injury history.

Let’s not forget the outrageously overly paid contract for an elder vet with injury history.

Nope, the Steelers stepped in a pretty deep hole and are now stuck with him.

If someone was that dumb they likely won’t be around long as a nfl GM long.

They would have to negotiate how much of the contract the Steelers would eat as a condition of a trade.

Watt would be significantly cheaper if traded and there are some desperate teams out there looking to get over the hump that have some defensive issues. Buffalo. Baltimore even.

I think a 2nd would be his max value and they'd be real lucky to pull that off, but there's definitely teams that'd be interested. And some of those teams like the Bills have regimes that know their seat is getting warm because they have franchise QB's and just not having a losing season isn't good enough for their fans or owner.

[CKSteeler]

"1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 7"

Considering what Khan does with third round draft choices lately that doesn't solve anything.

Tho Wilson and Johnson player development is on Tomlin.

I don't think you can honestly evaluate Kahn or any other scout underneath him. Tomlin's fingerprints were all over every personnel decision they made. I'm not saying I expect greatness of him all of sudden, but if they keep Weidl and pair that with a coach who has a more positive impact because Art II is going to include that coach in the decision making process to some degree (which is a fair approach to me) without the same sort of outsized influence Tomlin had built up over nearly two decades, we may see better results.

[SteelerDayTrader]

"1 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 7"

Considering what Khan does with third round draft choices lately that doesn't solve anything.

Tho Wilson and Johnson player development is on Tomlin.

I don't think you can honestly evaluate Kahn or any other scout underneath him. Tomlin's fingerprints were all over every personnel decision they made. I'm not saying I expect greatness of him all of sudden, but if they keep Weidl and pair that with a coach who has a more positive impact because Art II is going to include that coach in the decision making process to some degree (which is a fair approach to me) without the same sort of outsized influence Tomlin had built up over nearly two decades, we may see better results.