T.J. Watt wants to remain with the Steelers, and the Steelers want to keep Watt. But Watt, presumably, wants to be the highest-paid defensive player in football, and the Browns screwed that all up. In order to stave off Myles Garrett’s threats, they gave him a $40 million APY contract. That blew up the market scale, topping the next-highest contract by $4.5 million.

There is reason to believe that the Steelers are reluctant to go that high, whether for Watt or anyone else. It’s a lot of money to pay one player, especially when that player doesn’t throw the football. And there is reason to believe that Watt might not be thrilled if the Steelers are balking at the price.

But it may make the most business sense simply to bite the bullet at this point, though many seemingly disagree. If you’re an avid reader of comments sections (which is likely if you’re a masochist), then you’ve probably seen a great deal of support behind the idea of the Steelers trading T.J. Watt. Or otherwise simply not paying him $40 million a year, letting him play out his contract through 2025. Ray Fittipaldo disagrees—they need to pay him, and it’s their own fault for letting the price rise so high.

“I think T.J. Watt deserves to be paid more than Myles Garrett, but the Steelers can’t help that the Cleveland Browns overpaid for Myles Garrett when he signed that contract”, Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan over the weekend. As we’ve talked about before, the Steelers’ delay in doing a deal with Watt allowed Garrett to reset the market. Maxx Crosby signed for $35.5 million APY, then Garrett came in and blew that record away.

“The Browns didn’t just go a little beyond that. They jumped all the way to $40 million a year and they gave him $89 million in guaranteed money”, Fittipaldo pointed out about Garrett’s deal. The Steelers already broke important precedents in their last negotiations with Watt, it’s worth reminding. But $40 million is still a lot of money. The Browns totally got the edge rusher market out of whack, here, and now the Steelers have to deal with the fallout”.

He added that he suspects the Steelers will find a way to keep T.J. Watt, but Garrett’s contract with the Browns complicates the situation considerably. They basically have to start with $40 million as a baseline value, because why would Watt accept less?

Fittipaldo also believes there is a competitive tension between Watt and Garrett, the latter claiming himself the best in the league, over the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “There’s something personal there”, he wagers.

The Steelers already made T.J. Watt the highest-best defender in the league before, not too many years ago. The Garrett contract with the Browns raised the plateau considerably since then, though. I think the Steelers will eventually rise to that number, but it will take some convincing. And perhaps the pressure of a deadline, as was the case last time.