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JJ Watt on the Pittsburgh Steelers? Now, that has a nice ring to it for Steeler fans. It makes sense, too, as JJ’s brothers, TJ Watt and Derek Watt, have played for the franchise for their entire careers and the last three seasons, respectively. Oldest brother JJ had a chance to play with them but turned it down out of brotherly love.
JJ Watt went on the Green Light podcast with Chris Long and his brother, Kyle Long. During a discussion of leaving the Houston Texans in the 2021 offseason, Chris asked JJ if he thought about going to the Steelers and playing with his brothers at any point. JJ admitted he thought about it but ultimately didn’t pursue it to help his brother, TJ.
“They were (a possibility). Certainly, it would have been awesome to play with my brothers, JJ shared. “But TJ was also going through the contract situation there, so the last thing I wanted to do was come in and take any money away from his contract.”
Ultimately, TJ Watt signed a four-year, $112 million contract extension with $80 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $28 million to stay in Pittsburgh, while JJ Watt pass on the Steelers to ink a two-year, $28 million pact with the Arizona Cardinals.
JJ retired in the 2023 offseason and is now done with football, ending the possibility that the three NFL-playing Watt brothers will ever all play on the same team. Still, JJ’s decision was a heartwarming older brother move, and TJ will have to take JJ out to dinner someday to thank him for the extra zeroes on his last contract extension.
