J.J. Watt Explains Why He Never Signed With Steelers

The speculation ran rampant for years that J.J. Watt would one day come to the Steelers and play with his brothers. However, that never came to fruition. Instead, J.J. went to Arizona while Derek and T.J. Watt played together in Pittsburgh. J.J., now a studio analyst for CBS Sports, retired following the 2022 season. He will go into the Hall of Fame, but there is always the question of what if he did pull the trigger and come to Pittsburgh. The main reason J.J. Watt never played in Pittsburgh? He did not want to disrupt money for his younger brother.

“When free agency came about, I’ve said it before, T.J. was going through a contract situation. They didn’t have his contract figured out and everything, so I didn’t want to mess with that at all,” J.J. revealed in an interview with Fox Sports. “I wanted to make sure he had his situation figured out and get taken care of there, and I didn’t want my free agency addition to take any money away from his opportunity.”

J.J. noted that a part of him still regrets not coming to Pittsburgh. The brothers had dreamed of playing together at some point in the NFL, and that never came to fruition because of the concern that J.J. had for the potential contract ramifications it would have for his younger brother, who ended up signing the richest deal for an edge rusher in the NFL history at the time.

“There’s definitely a part of me that wishes I could’ve played with them…It would have been an absolute dream come true to play with all three of us on the same team,” J.J. said.

In the offseason, some rumors persisted that J.J. Watt would come out of retirement to play with his brothers. However, he shot those down quickly. Now a dad pursuing other interests outside the game, J.J. is content with watching his brothers from the sideline.

“I will not be playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Watt said.

As for what he’s doing with his life instead, J.J. recently became a part-owner of Burnley F.C., an English soccer team. He also achieved his move to the broadcast booth, where he will work with CBS Sports as a studio analyst.