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NFL Insider Guesses What T.J. Watt’s Cryptic Post Could Mean for Steelers Negotiations

Watt posted a picture of him showing off a peace sign on Wednesday, which led to a lot of assumptions as to what the image could mean.

Madison Williams

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt looks to tackle the offense.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt looks to tackle the offense. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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T.J. Watt sent Pittsburgh Steelers fans into a tizzy on Wednesday when he posted a picture of him showing off a peace sign on his Instagram story.

There were no words attached to the photo, which has led to many assumptions about what Watt's post could mean. Of course, many fans thought the worst case scenario that Watt could be leaving the Steelers. His contract isn't up with Pittsburgh until after the 2025 season, meaning he's in a negotiation period this offseason for a bigger extension.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport spoke about Watt's post on Thursday and gave his best educated guess as to what the seven-time Pro Bowler could be referencing with the photo.

"My guess, and this is only a guess because again we're reading into cryptic social media posts at 9:03 in the morning here, is T.J. Watt is in a contract negotiation situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers," Rapoport said. "... Generally, when a player makes a social media post, it forces us to talk about it on TV like we're doing right now, it's because contract negotiations are not going as well as anybody had hoped.

"So I think we can safely say the contract talks between T.J. Watt and the Steelers are not off to a riveting start. It doesn't mean they won't get there, they've gotten there before."

Here's the post in question.

This definitely seems like a situation NFL fans need to watch closely in the coming months. Watt's made it clear, even right after the Steelers' season came to an end in January, that he wants to remain in Pittsburgh. But, it seems that the Steelers need to pay him what he wants in order to keep him there long-term.

Watt is expected to make $21 million in 2025. It's probably difficult for him to ignore the extension his fellow star edge rusher Myles Garrett received from the Cleveland Browns last month. Garrett became the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league with a four-year extension that equates to $40 million per season. It wouldn't be surprising if Watt is aiming to earn a similar contract.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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