The Steelers are not usually very active in free agency, but don't let that blur your perception that the Steelers don't many any free agent moves. In recent years, there have been booms and busts in free agency.
The signing of Steven Nelson was tremendous, but the addition of Donte Moncrief makes fans cringe just thinking about the money paid to the wide receiver who didn't make it through one season.
The 2020 free agency period was no different for the Steelers. They let players walk, think Javon Hargrave, and made some signings, think Stefen Wisniewski, Eric Ebron and Derek Watt. What often is unknown is the back story behind these signings. What took place between the organization, agent and player to get a deal done.
Follow football long enough and hear the usual talk of the most lucrative contract or the most guaranteed money, but when Watt joined NFL Radio on Sirius/XM he told how his road to Pittsburgh was certainly unique.
It wasn't getting to play with his brother T.J. which swayed him to the Steelers. In fact, he never even knew Pittsburgh was seriously interested in bringing him in.
"It was my first experience going through free agency. I had been with the Chargers since I got drafted four years ago, so it was new to me. My agent said to keep track, keep in touch, we had some teams interested." Watt said. "They had some teams listed out that I was aware of that seemed to be extremely interested.
"Then all along they kind of mentioned, on the back burner, 'The Steelers ... they had been talking a bit. They seem interested, but you never know.' As it turns out, the Steelers were one of the top teams going after me, but they didn't want to get my hopes up because they knew how exciting and special an opportunity it would be to play with T.J. here. One to play with T.J., and two to be a Pittsburgh Steeler."
"So, they kinda downplayed it the whole time." Watt said.
"Come the day to make my decision and had the opportunity to sign with the Steelers, they presented me with the offer without a team name at the top. So I still at this point had no clue which team it was.
"All of a sudden they asked, 'How would you like to be a Pittsburgh Steeler?' Right there, a big smile came over my face. With the opportunity, and I was back in Wisconsin with my family, it was a special day for sure."
It certainly is a unique situation for Derek and T.J. as they prepare to be teammates for the first time since their time together at Wisconsin, but Derek talked to T.J. a lot about Pittsburgh, his new teammates and, of course, the organization as a whole.
"I've been able to get a glimpse into how the Steelers run things and how T.J. enjoys himself out here and how he has nothing but good things to say about the organization, the guys and the culture. I've had that all along, knowing how similar we are and how much he appreciates his time here ... he just explained, and put the punctuation on in it, that you're not going to have any regrets.
"You're gonna come here, you're gonna love it and you're gonna fit right in. Hard nosed, blue collar. It's a great fit for the way we were raised and it's gonna be nothing different. Don't have to change anything about it. Come in and get to work and put your best foot forward."
Everyone seems to love the Watt family. Whether it be the Subway commercials, their television show on NBC or the fact all three brothers play at the professional level. Adding another Watt to the team is certainly a positive for the Steelers.
However, let's not get the message confused here. Watt will come in and fill the role formerly occupied by Roosevelt Nix. Nix was injured the majority of the 2019 season, and Watt has been nothing but durable since entering the league. On top of being a quality fullback, Watt has the athleticism to not just block, but catch the ball out of the backfield. A nice wrinkle to have in the Steelers' offensive scheme.
But wait, there's more.
Watt also was tied for the league lead in special teams tackles in 2019. Watt, like his brothers, plays with all heart. Holding nothing back when he steps in between the white lines on game day. The Steelers will appreciate his versatility and willingness to do the dirty jobs on the team, but they will also love his work ethic and overall approach to the game.
Having another Watt on the team can prove the be quite valuable, and Derek is looking forward to proving himself when teams report to training camp at the end of July.
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