T.J. Watt shutting out contract talk during Steelers minicamp

T.J. Watt isn’t going to let his contract situation become a distraction during Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp.

On the first of the three-day session at Heinz Field, the veteran outside linebacker shot down a question about negotiations on a long-term deal.

“With respect to the process, I’m not going to be talking about any contract stuff today,” Watt said Tuesday morning.

Entering his fifth season with the team, Watt is scheduled to receive a $10.089 million salary under terms of the option the Steelers exercised in the 2020 spring.

The Steelers have expressed a desire to get Watt under contract for multiple seasons before he can hit free agency in 2022. The franchise’s policy is to cease contract talks once the regular season begins, so the Steelers have until September to get a deal done with Watt, the runner-up to the NFL’s defensive player of the year award in 2020.

Under a long-term deal, Watt could become the highest-paid defensive player in franchise history and one of the NFL’s top defensive earners. Among edge rushers, Joey Bosa’s five-year contract averages $27 million per year, and Myles Garrett’s five-year deal has a $25 million annual average value.

While 2019 NFL defensive player of the year Stephon Gilmore is skipping mandatory minicamp with the New England Patriots while trying to secure a new deal, Watt was on the field with teammates Tuesday after skipping the three weeks of organized team activities.

“It’s important to be around the guys,” Watt said. “It’s been five or six months since I saw a lot of the guys around here. There are a lot of new faces.”

With the Steelers not conducting on-field offseason workouts in 2020 because of the pandemic, Watt didn’t want to miss minicamp this year.

“You can do it for one year because there is some consistency with guys in the locker room, but two years away is too much turnover, especially with the guys leaving this past offseason,” Watt said. “It’s good to be around the cultural things, instilling what the Steeler way is, what our goals and aspirations are.

“You get on the field and not just talk about how we practice, but show guys how we actually practice so when we get to the fall, we can just focus on football.”