A JJ Watt Trade to the Vikings is Officially Out of Play. Plus, what His Release Means for the NFL
Josh Frey
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Back in January, I talked about the Vikings making a potential swing this offseason by trading for now former Texan, J.J. Watt. The plan essentially included trading a third round pick as well as a fourth rounder to acquire the veteran pass rusher.
However, with the news as of Friday morning, that plan has dissipated into the air. Houston officially released Watt, and the news broke with a video that Watt himself released on social media.
While the move saves Houston $17.5 million, I assumed a cut would be reserved for a last case scenario, not a move made five days after the Super Bowl. I understand it’s the high road by allowing Watt to pick his team, but you’re telling me Houston couldn’t have made a deal to send him where he wanted to go? I don’t buy it. It makes very little sense that they would go about it in this manner. It also means that their total haul for getting rid of DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt, two of the franchise’s most important players in its history, was one second round pick and David Johnson. Gross.
Nonetheless, the Vikings can no longer trade for Watt, and while that is a bit annoying, it’s the reality. In Watt’s ten-year career with the Texans, he recorded 101 sacks, 172 TFL, and forced 25 fumbles while being an anchor along the defensive line.
The Deshaun Watson Situation
According to recent reports, Houston has stubbornly held their ground against a Watson trade. This sort of move could be exactly what it takes to add the necessary fuel to Watson’s fire and double down on his request. If things stood pat or the franchise made a decent trade for Watt this spring, Watson may have gotten cold feet and shown up to play. Sometimes, the money is just more important, especially when you’re trying to provide for your family. Now, though, Watson may be just furious enough with this latest move to be motivated to sit.
There’s also another side to the story. With the money that Houston has saved, maybe they can finally bring in some good players to surround Watson. Per Spotrac, they now have around $10.2 million in space (following the reports of the cap being around $185 million) for 2021 without making any more cuts. They could easily be in the running for targets like Allen Robinson and Jared Cook by moving around a little more. If they can use this new money to surround Watson with real talent, they could perhaps change his mind if for just the 2021 season. That said, I wouldn’t bank much hope in Houston making smart moves.
Could Watt Head to the NFC North?
The immediate connection for Watt in the aftermath of this release has been the Green Bay Packers. He was born in Waukesha, played for the Badgers, and the Watt brothers are still Wisconsin’s sweethearts to root for. It makes sense that a feelgood story would be going home to finish his career in the green and gold.
That said, it would not be easy at all. Either Green Bay would have to move a ton of money around, or Watt would have to take a massive pay cut. The Packers currently sit, again per Spotrac, $21.8 million over the cap. Meanwhile, the Vikings space is -$5.1 million, the Lions are just under -$1.6 million, and the Bears are at about -$600,000. The Packers would have to move mountains compared to these other teams to acquire a player entering his age-32 season.
Watt’s Most Likely Destination
The goal of JJ Watt is to win a Super Bowl. We’ve all seen his emotional press conference at the end of the regular season. Watt is going to want to go to a team that helps him do that, but he’s also more than likely going to want to go somewhere that can pay him more than a couple million bucks.
While teams like Seattle, Green Bay, and San Francisco have been rumored already, there is one team that makes the most sense. That team is the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have nearly $80 million in cap space, and a line featuring both Watt and DeForest Buckner has the potential to be lethal. With Justin Houston entering free agency as well, it makes sense for the team to target Watt. They have a lot of questions at quarterback, as in they don’t really have a quarterback right now, but Jonathan Taylor at RB takes pressure off that position. It’s notable that they are also in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes.
If this is truly where Watt wants to go, it kind of explains why Houston wouldn’t want to trade him as well. The only thing that could get the franchise more negative PR than flat out releasing him would be trading him within the division. If Watt chose to go to a team in the division, there’s not much Houston can do about it. I’m not saying for sure that’s what the front office was thinking, but nothing would surprise me at this point.
Another team to watch here, though, is Pittsburgh. With Roethlisberger returning, a great defense, and his brother also being on the team, it would make sense for the Steelers to be in the running.