J.J. Watt almost picked the Steelers to play with his brothers
There are iconic brothers in the NFL, but seldom do they get the chance to play with one another.
The Pittsburgh Steelers did have two brothers on their roster from 2020-22 in outside linebacker T.J. Watt and fullback Derek Watt. They could have added a third in defensive end J.J. Watt following his release from the Houston Texans in the 2021 offseason.
Watt joined the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast and talked about how the Steelers would have been the beneficiaries of three Watts on the roster. Yet it was Watt’s conscientious nature as the big brother that compelled him to bow out.
“Certainly, it would have been awesome to play with my brothers, but T.J. was also going through the contract situation there, and the last thing I was going to do was come in and take any money away from his contract,” Watt said via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.
The youngest Watt signed a four-year extension worth over $112 million with $80 million guaranteed ahead of the Steelers’ opener in 2021. Adding the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year would have given Pittsburgh a nightmare edge rush, but it would have come at the expense of fielding a competitive roster in later years.
The Texans’ former 2011 first-round pick eventually signed with the Arizona Cardinals, playing 23 games over the next two seasons and extending his career sack total to 114.5.
