Make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt has been conspicuously absent from practically all of the Steelers training camp work with the team so far, instead spending his time stretching, doing sprints and a little individual work.
However, there has been no mention by head coach Mike Tomlin about an injury to Watt. This is because he isn’t injured. He’s smart. Watt is on the verge of perhaps becoming the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL over the course of the next month and he understands how detrimental an injury in training camp would be to that.
The Steelers currently have around $12.2 million in cap space, a number unheard of for this franchise this late in the offseason. The free-agent market isn’t exactly robust at this point so this money has to be earmarked for a Watt extension and perhaps one for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick as well.
If anyone has an issue with how Watt has handled this, understand he’s doing this with the full endorsement of the organization. Watt is the future of this defense and there is zero good reason to put him at any sort of risk.
