2021 NFL Free Agency: J.J. Watt Signs Two-Year Contract With Arizona Cardinals

No disputing the source on this bit of free agency news.

It’s a two-year contract that has $23,000,000.00 (of a total $31,000,000.00) guaranteed.

When the Texans released J.J. Watt a little more than two weeks ago, speculation centered on the Packers, Steelers, Bills, or Titans as Watt’s landing spot. Nobody really saw the Cardinals as a player in, much less the winner of, the Wattstakes. In retrospect, perhaps we should have viewed Arizona as a serious possibility; the Cardinals do boast a promising young quarterback who’s still on a rookie contract, a familiar superstar wide receiver who was acquired in trade about a year ago with Arizona having to give up virtually no assets to consummate said transaction, a fellow pass rushing threat in Chandler Jones, and some real talent elsewhere on the roster. There are legitimate questions about whether Kliff Kingsbury is the guy to guide a team to postseason glory, but Arizona could end up being a fine venue for Watt to write the next and presumably final chapter of his storied career.

Best of luck to J.J. as he chases the Super Bowl that eluded him in Houston. He’ll have more than a few Texans fans rooting for him far more passionately than they will for his former employer.