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JJ Watt’s time as a free agent appears to be coming to an end with three teams emerging as his potential future employers. The first to sign Watt are the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans, by NFL Insider John Clayton. While these clubs are seen as the clubhouse leaders to land Watt, it appears he had a healthy market. According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Watt received several offers from teams. The best deal, according to Russini, would earn him between $ 15 million and $ 16 million a year.
Watt’s interest in the Packers comes as no surprise, given that he played for the University of Wisconsin and hails from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, while growing up as a fan of the Packers. The Packers have reached the last two games of the NFC Championship and could use some help on a defensive line that has recorded 82 sacks over the past two seasons (tied for eighth in the NFL). Adding a player of Watt’s caliber might be enough to bring Green Bay to the Super Bowl in a loaded NFC.
The Bills and Watt have shown mutual interest and Buffalo would be an ideal candidate for three-time defensive player of the year. Buffalo plays four downed linemen, which helps Watt’s strength on the defensive line. Buffalo is another team that reached their conference championship game last season, tying a franchise record with 13 regular season wins. The Bills finished with just 38 sacks last season, tied for 15th in the NFL, so adding Watt would be a major boost to the pass rush.
The Titans are a bit of a surprise runner-up, considering Watt’s connection to the Pittsburgh Steelers (his brothers play there), and Watt reportedly “seriously considered” the Cleveland Browns last week. Tennessee finished with just 19 sacks last season, which was the third fewest in the NFL, but Watt has a connection with much of the coaching staff.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was with Watt in Houston for four seasons, including his first two as linebacker coach – when Watt won his first two Defensive Player of the Year awards. Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was a defensive assistant with the Texans in 2016 and 2017, reflecting Watt’s greater familiarity with the defensive system.
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Watt played all 16 games last season and finished with just five sacks, 17 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and 29 pushes. He’s just 26.5 sacks in the past five seasons, but his three Defensive Player of the Year awards are tied for the most in NFL history with Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald.
Watt set the Texans’ franchise records in sacks (101.0), tackles for loss (172), quarterback hits (282) and forced fumbles (25) to go with 531 total tackles, 61 passes defenses and 16 fumbles recovered. Watt is also the only player in NFL history with more than 20 sacks and more than 10 defensive passes in the same season (2012 and 2014), and is tied for fifth in defensive linemen in the l league history with six touchdowns in the regular season. He is also the fourth fastest player in NFL history to reach 100 sacks.
The free agency saga looks set to end for Watt, with three teams that would be ideal choices for the future Hall of Famer.
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