The Green Bay Packers need more pass-rush help. They might fix a past draft mistake while addressing this need.
The Pittsburgh Steelers face a tough decision. They’re clearly trying to win in 2025, based on their offseason moves adding veterans like cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay, plus wide receiver DK Metcalf.
The current holdout by outside linebacker T.J. Watt creates a problem. Watt ranks among the NFL’s best pass rushers and would boost Pittsburgh’s defense for any playoff run. However, trading Watt could bring back valuable assets.
Why T.J. Watt Makes Sense for Green Bay Packers
If the Steelers choose to trade him, USA Today’s Jacob Camenker thinks the Packers are a team to watch as a potential partner.
Camenker notes Green Bay has the salary cap space to handle Watt’s expected expensive contract. The Packers have the fifth-most cap room at $35.5 million. Watt will likely command over $40 million per season, matching the bar Cleveland’s Myles Garrett set this offseason.
Green Bay also needs the help. The Packers currently have third-year edge rusher Lukas Van Ness set to start opposite star Rashan Gary. Van Ness, taken 13th overall from Iowa in 2023, has played every game in his first two seasons but logged just 33% and 39% of defensive snaps with no starts. He has seven sacks in two years, with three coming in 2024.
Gary led the Packers with 7.5 sacks last season. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt finished second on the team with four sacks.
The Packers haven’t had a player reach 10 sacks since Za’Darius Smith recorded 12.5 in 2020. That streak would likely end with Watt joining the team.
The Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native who played at the University of Wisconsin has reached double-digit sacks in six of his eight NFL seasons. He led the league three times in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Watt recorded 11.5 sacks in 2024.
The most sacks in one-score games since 2023:
T.J. Watt – 24.5 💥 pic.twitter.com/gs71vm6cbP— PFF (@PFF) July 4, 2025
Having Gary and Watt rushing from both edges would create major problems for opposing offensive lines. The pairing would likely boost Gary’s quarterback pressure numbers as well.
Correcting a 2017 Draft Decision
Adding Watt would also bring him back home, where many Packers fans thought he’d land in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Watt was falling in the first round and still available when Green Bay picked at No. 29 overall. Many Packers and Wisconsin Badgers fans overlap, and keeping Watt in state seemed perfect. He had just led the Big Ten with 11.5 sacks the year before.
However, the Packers and then-general manager Ted Thompson had different plans. Green Bay traded down to No. 33 overall, the first pick in the second round. This allowed Cleveland to select tight end David Njoku. Watt went to the Steelers with the next pick.
With their newly acquired second-round pick, the Packers selected Washington cornerback Kevin King. King played five inconsistent seasons in Green Bay. Many fans unfairly compared him to Watt, who was becoming a superstar.
The Packers could fix that past mistake by trading for Watt now. They’d get a dominant pass rusher and give their defense the boost it needs for a playoff push.
