The REAL Reason TJ Watt’s Deal Got Done + Steelers WR Search & This Could Be A BIG Year For CAIII 👀📈

The REAL Reason TJ Watt’s Deal Got Done + Steelers WR Search & This Could Be A BIG Year For CAIII 👀📈

It’s a slow news day, but we still here because my cousin Steve, you guys know my cousin Steve, right? He’s the show’s insider. He’s the one that breaks the news to me. ESPN has Adam Shfter. NFL Network has Ian Rapaort. Big Deak News has my cousin Steve. He let me know over the weekend that I’ve been getting a little lazy. And that’s fair. You guys could probably tell that, too. Over the last couple weeks, show frequency wasn’t where it was over the last couple months. What was it? Only maybe like three shows a week. Over the last couple weeks, three, four show, two shows, I don’t know. That’s that’s where it was. You could tell I was slacking a little bit. So, even though it’s a little bit light for content, a little bit slow for Steeler news, we got to start building up to speed here because everyone’s reporting in training camp tomorrow and then training camp starts Thursday and then we got preseason and it’s going to be the regular season. So, like I gotta start getting the takes, the momentum, the vibes, you know, corresponding with what’s about to start taking place over these next few months. So, even though not much going on, damn it, we’re going to talk about something. We’re going to have some to talk about. And to start off, we got the real reason as to why this TJ Watt deal got done before training camp or we we should say the catalyst behind the TJ Watt deal getting done before training camp and that was Coach T. Have a listen to Jerry Dulac and his explanation for how coach T was the one to get this thing moving in a direction where it would ultimately get done before uh the players reported to training camp tomorrow. Yeah, Billy, I think there’s some some merit to that. Um you know that Mike Tomlin did not want any more quote distractions heading into training camp. That’s the last one. It’s taken care of. Mike Tomman’s feeling all along was get that deal done, pay him, just get the deal done. Uh, you know, he doesn’t control the purse strings, but he can certainly push them in a certain direction. Um, and yeah, I think that was definitely part of it. So, they go into camp not wondering, you know, is TJ going to be there? Is he not going to be there? in my opinion, another plus, another point in coach T’s direction and how he handled this off seasonason because we can complain about all that’s taken place over the last however many seasons, the last seven, eight years, and our playoff disappointments and how this squad has not lived up to the standards. We just need to get a playoff win. It’s been the same old same old and Tomlin’s been the constant under that same old same old. We we can complain about that. We’ve done that for a portion of the off seasonason. We particularly complained about it a ton in January and February. And because of that, after we lost that wild card game to the Ravens, I like most of you saying, “Yeah, it’s time to move on from Coach T.” I think things have run its course. Things have gone stale. We need a new direction. We need a new head of the ship for 2025 and going forward. It’s just time. It’s time. Time to move off of Tomlin. We appreciate everything he’s done up to this point. Great Steelers head coach, Hall of Famer. But sometimes things just hit that breaking point where both sides got to go their separate ways and it’s going to be better for both parties going in new directions. The example that’s brought up how many times with this type of conversation is Andy reading the Eagles. So, you know, I thought we hit that point. I that’s kind of where we were at with the Steelers franchise and Coach T at the helm. But if you were to have told me that instead of moving off of Tomlin after how the 2024 season ended and how all these seasons have ended for the last seven, eight years, if you were if you were to have told me instead of doing that, we’re going to keep Tomlin but have almost a complete roster overhaul for 2025. Like instead of Russ or Fields coming back, we were gonna pay Rogers on a one-year deal for less money than what Russ and Fields got. Only one year, 10 million bucks with incentives, a lot of team incentives. And then we’d get Jaylen Ramsey on defense, Darius Slay on defense, bolster up the defensive line through the draft with a first round pick being a defensive lineman, Derek Harmon out of Oregon, one of the top defensive tackles, defensive lineman in the draft. And then also get a Jack Sawyer in the fourth round, get a Caleb Johnson in the third round while letting Naji Harris move on. Also signed Kenneth Gainwell for a very reasonable contract. Uh what other moves? Yeah, I guess Jonnu Smith bringing him in along with the Jaylen Ramsey trade. We we do give up Minka. Minka’s not back. We make some other nice free agent signings though like a Juan Thornnehill, Malik Harrison, um Brandon Eckles. Am I missing any what other moves? Because I mean, as I said, we had almost a complete roster overhaul for 2025. At least 50% of the starters, at least 50% are going to be new. I’m pretty sure. Um, if you were have told me that, I’d say, “Yeah, let’s let’s run it back with Tomlin. Let’s let’s let’s give it a chance.” But I thought by bringing back Tomlin like most of us could safely assume that if we brought back Tomlin, brought back the same coaching staff, which we did, Tomlin, Terrell Austin, Arthur Smith, I think we only had one change in assistant coaches, Aaron Curry moved on and we replaced him with um former Dallas Cowboys linebackers coach. I can’t remember his name off the top of my head right now. I think we we’d presume that or assume that yeah, I don’t think much else is going to change either. We’re just going to do the safe route. Same old same old. Bring back Russ, bring back fields. Um maybe have a little signing on defense, signing on offense, but that’s about it. But we didn’t do that. We didn’t do that. Not at all. Big time change and Tomlin is a big reason for it. So, if we want to give our criticisms of Tomlin, like Tomlin also has a big part in the personnel and the change that took place this offseason because we’re not getting Rogers if it’s not for Tomlin. We’re not making a bunch of these trades. We’re not trading for Jaylen Ramsay and Johnny Smith or trading for DK Medaf. I think that’s actually one of the moves that I forgot whenever I was going through the roster overhaul. Yeah, we traded for DK Metaf and got rid of Pickkins. So, like again, if we if you would have told me we’re making all that change, all that those roster moves that I mentioned that it’s the day after the wild card loss. If you would have told me that, but we’re keeping Tomlin, I would have been like, “All right, yeah, that’s fine.” Because something needed to give. And if if it’s going to be the personnel, if it’s going to be the roster and we’re going to take a swing on Aaron Rogers and we got a DK Medaf in here, Pickkins out of here, Jaylen Rams, you got a bunch of changes on defense. Sure. Let’s take a chance. Let’s take a chance because again, we’re not these moves aren’t happening if it if it’s not for Tomlin. Tomlin was at the head of moving off of Pickkins. I’m sure Tomlin has to give the green light to trade for DK Metaf to bring in Aaron Roger. Roger said he’s not coming here if it wasn’t for Tomlin, right? The Jaylen Ramsey trade, the John Smith trade, all this stuff is not happening if Tomlin doesn’t give it the green light. So, credit to Tomlin. Omar Khan’s doing the stuff behind the scenes with the contract and all that and this TJ Watt deal is the latest. I could see it. I mean, with Omar Khan being the shrewd GM that he is and TJ Watt probably wanting a certain number after seeing what Miles Garrett got and how TJ Watt has performed over the last five, six years. He’s the best defensive player in the league. I could have seen that staying at a stalemate throughout preeason and or training camp and preseason and ultimately getting close to the regular season as it did last time with TJ because Omar K he’s he’s trying to get all these deals to be Steeler friendly when you’re talking about the numbers talking about the amount of years the numbers all that stuff and the flexibility Omar Khan doesn’t mess around but with Tomlin saying to Omar. Listen, let’s just let’s get this deal done. I get that we probably want TJ for two years. Maybe we want the guarantees a little bit less. TJ wants four years. Meet at the middle. Get this deal done because we want to be all in. We don’t want any distractions. We don’t want any drama for this 2025 season. We already had some of the Aaron Rogers stuff earlier on. When’s he going to sign? What’s going on with this and that? He ends up signing. And again, that’s due to Tomlin and his patience and the relationship and the rapport that he had with Aaron Rogers and still has with Aaron Rogers. And then once Rogers signed, he shows up to mandatory mini camp. Seamless, no problems at all. Rogers has a bunch of the players, the receivers out to Malibu over the last couple weeks and they’re getting ready. Rogers and Arthur Smith are talking behind the scenes. So, no issues at all. None. None. So again, credit to Toma for how he handled the Rogers stuff, how he handled the quarterback position this off seasonason and knowing that we needed to switch it up and Aaron taking a swing on Aaron Rogers is one of the options we needed to do to get elite quarterback playing here. It was it was one of the two or three options that were out there. And I’ve talked about that ad nauseium. I don’t need to get into that again. But yeah, no distractions, no drama. TJ Watts signed. We’re going to worry about the TJ contract and all that stuff, his future after this 2025 season concludes and worry about the numbers. If we could get off the contract with the trade in this year, everything’s aligned. No drama, no distractions. And Tomlin made sure it happened. Wanted to wanted to make sure this TJ stuff wasn’t lasting into training camp. So, credit to Tomlin, credit to TJ Watt for for getting the deal done. And now we’re on our way. Everything aligned. No drama, no distractions, at least for now. This was the right move, though. This this this is what needed to be done. It’s it’s absolutely what needed to be done. Are we paying TJ a little bit more than we’d like on a per year basis? Yeah, probably. Yeah, probably. But you just needed to get it done. And how we have it structured for at least this season is TJ’s salary cap’s actually less. His cap hit is less. And we created more cap space for ourselves to potentially make another move, make another addition on offense, whether you’re talking another outside receiver, make another addition on defense, whether you’re talking another safety. And Jerry Doolac talked about the former. We got a Jerry Dulac heavy show today. talked about the former as in getting potentially another receiver on this roster uh on the same station that he was talking about the TJ Watt deal and what the John Smith trade what adding Ju Smith meant for us potentially bringing in another outside receiver there potentially that wide receiver too that has been eluding us for the last couple seasons. Did the acquisition of John Smith stop the search for another wide receiver or did it just sort of slow it down? Yeah, I I I think at at the at at best uh it slowed it down because they figure they can line him, flex him, um and and you know, serve as another quote wide receiver. So, um yeah, I don’t know. You know, they got they they signed Robert Woods, you know, is that Allen Robinson? We’ll see. Um, but yeah, I think John Newmith I I think that’s the way they’re they’re viewing that. Uh, I and I think of course training camp and a preeason will will speak uh, you know, to as to whether that is what they think is good going on because, you know, always by the end of training camp, they decide, okay, do we still have a hole or weakness somewhere? He’s saying it slowed the process, which was kind of what I was getting at yesterday. I think I had almost that exact take. I don’t think it completely stops us from making another signing, but we’re going to wait and see what Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin, and Robert Woods look like in this offense in training camp and in preseason and then maybe even the regular season. Like I don’t I mean, you saw us last year go into the regular season with Pickkins as our one and Van Jefferson as our two after Roman Wilson got hurt. It was like Van Jefferson’s our two, Calvin Austin our three. Uh we got Scotty Miller. We end up picking up Ben Scoronic in the middle of the season, but then we also, you know, traded for Mike Williams. Like, you know, we went into last season with that receiving group. I’m sure after adding Jonu Smith, we’re 100% fine if need be going into week one with DK Metaf, John Smith, Pat Fu, Darnell Washington, Calvin Austin after showing he could be a five 600 yard receiver like more proven this this Calvin Austin this version of Calvin Austin’s better than what he was last offseason. So we got that up upgraded Calvin Austin. Roman Wilson healthy now, not hurt. and a Robert Woods on top of still having Scotty Miller and Ben Skironic here. So like we improved at wide receiver when we we improved our offensive weapons even though we can complain about oh we don’t have Pickkins like we’re still looking for that outside guy. We trade in DK Medaf but trade away Pickkins. Now, we got the same problems. The weapons in the receiver room, I I think the offense in general, if you want to add running backs, the surroundings around our quarterback are much better than what it was last year. Rogers has more to work with than what Justin Fields and Russ had, for sure. So, I think it is safe to assume that we’re going to wait it out. We had less to work with last year and we went into week one with that. Now we have more to work with. I I don’t think we’re stressing and especially with what the options are. You know, last year it was now I don’t think I’m trying to remember. I don’t think there were there were there was a more electric option via trade in Brandon Iayuk than what’s available for what it seems right now via trade because I I mean Tyreek Hill’s name’s being thrown out there but Miami is at least going to go into week one with him. They’re not going to trade him. So there was Brandon Iayuk via trade but I don’t remember who was available free agency. I don’t think honestly I will say Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, Gabe Davis, that’s probably a little bit more intriguing if you’re talking about free agency versus what was last year. But like Brandon Iayuk was on the table and we did try to get that done. We tried, but ultimately didn’t. So, like, yeah, I mean, options may be a little bit better this year in terms of free agency, but it’s still not something I think we’re really stressing over, especially after that Johnny Smith trade. Different story if he’s not added into it, if it was just Minka for Jaylen Ramsey and pick swaps. But with Johnny Smith being here and the versatility he has, you can play him in the slot, tight end, fullback, you play him outside when we get down to the red zone, play him outside, probably in the middle of the field. And we did that type of stuff with Ebron. Remember that Ebron and John Smith coming off of the Pro Bowl season he had with Miami is an upgrade over Ebron is is just he’s better better at blocking. Maybe you could argue as a rece I would take Johnny Smith. I mean, we know Ebron had his drops. Ebron was decent at route running and stuff, but Johnny Smith bigger frame, more physical receiver, more versatile. So, like, yeah, Johnny Smith’s just better than Ebron. And we were we were we were kind of versatile in how we used him. Johnny Smith’s just going to be better for us than Ebron flat out because we benched Ebron once Frith got here basically. Fry Moose’s rookie year. Ebron’s snaps went down the tubes real quick and Fri became our number one. Whereas Fry’s our number one right now and we brought in Johnny Smith and like we know they’re going to be a tandem. Like if anything, Jonnu Smith’s going to be taken away from Frithouth. So just different dynamic with Jonnu versus Ebron, but maybe kind of the same in terms of you’re talking about versatility, but just better versatility and hopefully better production and just better results with Jonnu. Uh but yeah, that’s it for I guess this the Janu Smith talk. Um, one more thing, and since we’re talking about offense, talking about weapons, talking about receivers, I’m liking what Calvin Austin III is saying recently. He went on, this was about a week ago, so it’s not too too recent, but he went on local Memphis, I guess not radio because I got the visual here. I got video of it. He went on local Memphis news, I guess, and he was asked about some stuff regarding this upcoming Steelers season, particularly what Aaron Rodgers had to say about and to Calvin Austin about CA3’s game and what Rogers likes about it. Yeah, I mean, the first time I met him, one of the first things he said was about my speed and, you know, obviously that’s my, you know, my main thing and something that, you know, got me to the point I’m at today. But one of the other things he was talking about was, you know, me going over the middle to make those tough catches. And that was something that I just really worked on last year and wanted to show really just that, you know, I’m not just a straight down the field speed guy, you know, tough third downs, you know, across the middle. I’m that guy that can make those catches and can, you know, show up in the in those big time cru crucial moments. And then Austin also brought up, and I’m going to tie both of these comments together. That’s why I want to play both of them before like really reacting to this cuz Austin also brought up some stuff about what he thinks needs to start happening as an offense for the Steelers to reach the ultimate goal and that is a Super Bowl. Obviously, man, I’m we we charming a Super Bowl. So, I’m like, the only way we can get there is if we all like really be brothers and really can be come up to somebody be like, “Hey, you ain’t practicing how I think you should how how I know you can practice or I think you should do this on this route.” We all got to be, you know, um, receptive to that tough that tough but, you know, needed criticism. He’s 100% right. and why I use both of these comments here. What Aaron Rogers says about Calvin Austin’s game and what Calvin Austin thinks needs to happen as an offense for us to get back to our Super Bowl ways is that Calvin Austin might be the right guy to be the Steelers leader on offense. Now, obviously Aaron Rogers as a veteran with who Aaron Rogers is is going to step in being the quarterback. Oh, like he’s naturally going to be the leader, right? We know that. But sometimes you need some other leaders. Sometimes it just can’t be one guy. It’s got to be another another guy or two that people can look to and say like especially because you have different position groups, right? Sometimes you need a couple other guys, couple other leaders. Like go back to the Big Ben era, right? We had multiple leaders on offense. Like Big Ben was a leader naturally. Quarterback, he he stepped into that, evolved into that just naturally because you’re the quarterback. You have to be a leader. But he’s winning games. He’s balling out. Fourth quarter comebacks, playoff success, all that stuff. But Hines Ward was also a leader. Jerome Bettis, I mean, in the early Ben days, leader. Uh Heath Miller was a leader, right? did didn’t talk too much, but action spoke louder than words with him. So, we had Maris Pouncy, another guy, another perfect example of just having like honestly that whole offensive line during that time like the Killer B era. AB leader by probably more by just work ethic and and that type of example as opposed to maybe some of the other stuff that you got with AB. But you kind you kind of get my point here. Rogers is going to be the Steelers leader for this season, but we know he’s most likely going to be one and done. So, who’s going to be one of those guys on offense for other players to look to for leadership as time goes on? And that’s something that we have been drastically lacking in from an offensive standpoint over the last several years. Like we we just kept talking like who’s the leader on offense? Who is it? because we’re getting inconsistent quarterback play, different guys in at quarterback. Matt Canada doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing from a play calling standpoint. And then we tried with Russ last year, but it’s like one of those things. I I think he brought natural leadership through his experience and just who Russell Wilson is, but you also got to back it up a little bit. And Russ was backing it up when we were sitting at 10 and three. We were talking about Russ being one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC, but then you go 0 and5 down the stretch and Russ is who he is. He likes to be vocal, likes to have high energy, try to talk up to guys, but you could see what he was doing on the field wasn’t necessarily backing that up. And players weren’t exactly bought in as what they were whenever Russ was just flat out right playing good. So sometimes it is less about the talk and what you’re saying to guys and more about what you’re putting out there on the field. Because remember at the end of the season, week 18, we lose the Bengals devastating fashion. Lose our home field advantage in the playoffs and Cam’s walking off the field and Russ is like, “Don’t worry, bro. We got this. Come on. Come on. Like stay up. We’re winning four straight.” And Cam’s just like, “Bro, come.” Like I don’t know. I I don’t know if I believe you anymore. Like I I just don’t know. Steelers, let’s go win the last four. All right. Look at me. Let’s go. We can do it. You know what I’m saying? Don’t doubt now. You feel me? Let’s go win the last four. It’s because of how Russ has played deteriorated over those last five weeks. Like, where was the hope? You could say certain things. We got this. You know, you know, I did this in the past, but like those last five games, I just don’t know if there’s going to be a flip of a switch once playoff hit. and you’re going to get back to being prime Russ and we’re going to be on our way in the playoffs here. Like that’s what Cam had to have been thinking right there. Like what I don’t I mean you’re telling me it’s all good, but these last five games and what the offense was doing less than what was it 14 points a game. We didn’t put up over 14 points in any of those games. It’s telling me otherwise. And we’re going up against teams that we’re going to have to beat in the playoffs. So, like the actions got to back up the talk. And Calvin Austin, even though he’s not all world or anything right now, but the actions back up the talk with how the dude plays, bro. He He’s the smallest guy on the field, but he is like Aaron Rogers was saying, catching the passes over the middle, making the tough catch, doing everything like doing everything right. Like one of the hardest working dudes there, like just willing to put it all out there for the team. So, like if there is someone that can maybe take up the mantle and be a leader for this offense once Rogers retires and we get a new rookie in here, whoever it is, right? Even even if it’s Will Howard, you still need you need multiple guys. You need multiple guys to be leaders. I talked about the offense from back in the day in the Big Ben era. What about the defense? You had multiple leaders on defense, right? Casey Hampton, James Harrison, Troy Palamalu, Ike Taylor, the inside linebackers, James Frier, Larry Foot, like you you could have enough leaders. So, Calvin Austin might be one of those guys to look out for. He he’s not DK Madaf in terms of talent or anything like that, but it seems like he’s open to being vocal and to trying to call out and and hold others accountable and how we’re working, how we’re practicing, and how we’re going about things. And it seems like he backs it up. So, he would be a rightful guy to do that type of stuff. Like, it’s different if again you’re you’re just talking like we got to do this, we gotta do that, and then you’re not backing it up on the field. You’re not willing to go the extra effort or anything like that on the field. Calvin Austin seems like seems like he’s willing to do that. And not saying going back to the whole Russ comparison, Russ wasn’t giving us 100% effort and all that stuff. It’s like sometimes it just comes down to are you playing well or not. You could give a 100% effort, but if you’re not playing well, you know, that’s part of it as well. So, Calvin Austin, he’s played well. He he, you know, what 500, it was it was almost 600 yards last year. Like had a had a really nice season as our wide receiver three. Really solid season for us. So, he had production for us last year. Did all the little things right. Is even again the smallest guy on the field. willing to block, willing to go out like not the best blocker, but you got on the other hand a guy like Pickkins who can block. We’ve seen him block. We’ve seen him dismantle people and go viral on the internet for his blocking, but it’s 50/50 on whether or not he wants to do it or not. And then he’s dropping easy passes. Lacks Dasical in his routes, not not buttoned up, not detailed. It’s like, I mean, how are you how are you supposed to be a leader? How are you supposed to be the Steelers franchise receiver and the guy that one of the guys this offense should be looking to for now and into the future? Which is obviously questions that Tomlin had himself and why we moved off of pickings. But yeah, like Calvin Austin, I think he could maybe be one of those guys for us. I really do. I I like that he says this and it feels like he means it. It It’s not coming from a fake place. is not coming from a spot either where he can’t back it up in his own right and put in the work and have the discipline and do all the right things because it it seems like he’s doing that. The only thing that sucked with him early on is he got hurt. does everything good on special teams. Feel like it feels like he’s an underrated punt returner actually because he’s either catching the ball, good ball security, fair catch, whatever it is, or when he does return, he’s getting at least 10 15 yards and then has the ability to take it to the house like we’ve seen before. But, uh, yeah, I’m liking what I’m hearing from Calvin Austin. I’m I’m liking some of the reports, not only the stuff coming out of his mouth, but I’m hearing from Kaboli, I’m hearing from other some of these other Steelers insiders saying like, “Watch out for Calvin Austin having a breakout year.” They’re also saying that about Roman Wilson, too, which if we’re going to wrap up today’s show and have it come full circle is another reason why I think the Steelers are fine waiting on adding a receiver. If we were to though, the one guy right now would be Gabe Davis, just because he has a skill set that outside of DK Medaf, not really any of our other receivers have, and that’s the the take the top off the defense type of ability, vertical threat. That’s the only reason why. And he would be on a vet minimum contract, too. It wouldn’t really take much to get him here. But I don’t know if he’s healthy. It seems like he hasn’t been able to pass a physical. He’s been visiting teams, but none of the teams are really interested. So when he gets healthy and him and the Steelers have had contact, it seemed like the meeting went well between the two. Who knows? Maybe maybe that could be a nice little pickup because I don’t think Gabe Davis necessarily takes away from what Calvin Austin or Roman Wilson can do or any of the other weapons. He’s just like an added piece that we could throw out there for like 10, 11, 15 snaps. Just a just a new wrinkle. just like a guy that you know the defense is going to have to account for because we’re going to be sending him on a vertical and it could open up some things for the middle of the field and the shorter yardage stuff. But uh yeah, that’s it for today’s show. Hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts on the topics discussed down in the comments. Here we go. Steelers, we got we definitely got content tomorrow because Steelers are reporting the training camp. So, we’ll react to the interviews and the stuff that comes out of Latroe for the first day. Uh, yeah, stay tuned for that. And that’s it for the show. Peace.

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0:00 Mike Tomlin’s Influence On TJ Watt’s Deal
2:23 Coach T Deserves Credit For 2025 Offseason
11:55 Will Steelers Still Add Offensive Weapon Even After Jonnu Smith Trade?
18:42 Aaron Rodgers Compliments CAIII’s Game
20:04 Could Calvin Austin III Be The Leader Steelers Need On Offense