According to multiple reports, Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt will NOT be at mandatory minicamp on Tuesday.
BREAKING: Fan Morning Show reacts to breaking Watt news
Missing minicamp can come with hefty fines.
According to the NFL’s current agreement, per ESPN, one day of missing camp is a fine of over $17,000, two days, nearly $35,000 and all three days is over 52,300.
The edge rusher and former Defensive Player of the Year is looking for a new contract and looking to be the highest-paid edge rusher in football.
The Steelers waited to sign Watt and Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett got paid, with the Browns’ Garrett signing a four-year extension worth $160 million with nearly $123.6 million guaranteed.
Watt is likely looking to make more than that with a new deal.
With Watt not attending minicamp, Fan Morning Show host Adam Crowley said he still thinks a deal will eventually get done, “but clearly there’s trouble in paradise in a way that there wasn’t four years ago.”
That was when Watt held a “hold in”, attending minicamp and training camp but not participating with the team, opting to participate in off-field exercises. He signed he deal just hours before the regular season began.
Dorin Dickerson says this isn’t “your run of the mill ‘hey I need a new contract’ contract extension. This is talking about being the highest paid at that position.”
With Watt not reportedly attending minicamp, The Morning show says that shows that the two sides are apart.
Both Dickerson and Crowley think that Watt should be at minicamp, but they also think the Steelers screwed up, waiting around instead of re-signing Watt.
“The Steelers should know what the cost of doing business is,” said Crowley.
Listen to the breaking news above.