PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While he loves all of the traditions in coming back to Latrobe, there is a new one for Steelers captain TJ Watt. He will really understand it when some of the players head out for wings or other food during camp.
"I'll be picking up the check for quite some time I'm sure," Watt said Wednesday as the Steelers reported to training camp. "I got no problem doing that."
When you will be the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history, those are the expectations. Watt said he wanted to get a new contract done before practices begin and was very aware of being a potential distraction and its part of why he was all smiles during his news conference at the Rogers Center at St. Vincent College.
He even admitted he may have played up the offseason talk about his contract status. Watt said he had fun with his peace sign post on social media that got all riled up about his potential future. Watt said he enjoyed listening and reading the narratives of how we all thought the contract talks were going. Watt said some of them were way off and it ended up stirring things up much more than he could have thought.
It's now about playing football and doing it better as a team than any group he's played with. To that point, Watt is optimistic in the offseason moves.
"I'm just excited about this new team," Watt said. "There are so many new faces. It's a new year, it's a fresh start."
Watt believes they've added play-makers and thinks a couple of second and third-year players are going to take a big step in 2025.
"I think it's the endless pursuit of it and wanting to do anything possible, turn over every stone," Watt said as he still seeks a first postseason win in his career. "You see the aggressiveness that we are taking organizationally. I'm doing everything I can personally whether that's moving around, mentoring younger guys as much as I possibly can."
Now 30, Watt said he's talked to former Steelers players who have won Super Bowls. Asked them what this current group can do to get to that point. He believes they need to talk more openly about how good they want to be on defense and then all need to be held more accountable.
"Really all we can do, just keep putting our heads down and working," Watt said. "We can talk and talk and talk about not winning a playoff game and how much I want to do it. But at the end of the day, it's just lip service. It's all about what we do. That's why I'm excited to be back here. That's why I'm excited to get to know each and every guy on this new team and get to work, man."
