The Pittsburgh Steelers paid T.J. Watt a lot of money to end his training camp holdout a couple of months ago. Through seven games, Watt’s had some good moments. However, he hasn’t statistically lived up to that new price tag. Former NFL DL Leger Douzable thinks the Steelers should have traded Watt instead, and that he simply isn’t the same type of player anymore.

“T.J. Watt just got that massive deal. And the last couple of weeks, he’s been a no-show,” Douzable said Tuesday on CBS Sports HQ. “I’m on record saying this. I thought they should have traded him. Especially because they needed a quarterback for the future. They should have got the draft capital for next year’s draft to move up. Especially with Herbig and his trajectory, I would have traded him… He’s not been the guy he’s been.”

For what it’s worth, it wouldn’t have made sense to trade Watt with a quarterback in mind. For one, the Steelers already have a wealth of draft picks that could help them move up in the first round next year if need be. And even if Watt was traded, he was coming off a down year with one season left on his deal. Nobody is trading a king’s ransom in that situation.

Thus, keeping Watt around made sense. The Steelers wouldn’t get enough value on the market to make it worth losing him. However, it’s hard to feel great about that contract right now. Watt has just four sacks on the year, but he’s been in a down stretch since 2024. He didn’t have any sacks during the last four games that season, although lingering injuries seemed to play a part. Now, with just four sacks in his last 11 games, it’s a worrying trend.

Watt’s deal made him the highest-paid non-quarterback at the time. But the same was true for Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. And yet Parsons made an impact throughout Sunday’s game, while Garrett is coming off a five-sack performance of his own. Considering the output from those deals compared to Watt, it’s a disappointing difference.

There are a few things that could be contributing. The Steelers don’t disguise their man coverage well enough, so it’s easy for quarterbacks to find a receiver and get the ball out quickly against that alignment. And in cover 3, the Steelers don’t do a good job getting to the flat. Those are their most common defensive coverages, which means Watt isn’t getting a ton of time to get to the passer.

Yet, he’s not as productive as the Steelers hoped he’d be when inking him to that contract. If it doesn’t start to pick up soon, and especially if the Steelers keep losing games, those groans will only get louder.