J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans have agreed to mutually part ways. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, as there had been rumblings for quite a while that Watt was wanting out of Houston.
Watt made a statement in a video that he posted on Twitter, where he said:
“I have sat down with the McNair family and I have asked them for my release and we have mutually agreed to part ways at this time. I came here 10 years ago as a kid from Wisconsin who’d never really been to Texas before. And now I can’t imagine my life without Texas in it. The way that you guys have treated me, besides draft night. I mean, you guys booed me on draft night. But every day after that, you treated me like family. And I truly feel like you’re my family.”
It’s fair that Watt would want out of Houston now, because of all of the drama and chaos that’s been going on in Houston dating back to the Bill O’Brien days. Watt made it clear that he didn’t want to go through a full rebuild once again.
Houston could have traded Watt and would’ve had plenty of interest for the star pass-rusher, but granting his wish, Watt can now pick his destination on where he can compete for a Super Bowl. Watt has also made it known that he wants to compete for a championship.
With Watt being available, he has the ability to choose where he wants to play and there will be a long list of teams interested if the future hall of famer. Obviously the Packers come to mind first, because he grew up in Wisconsin and played his college ball for the Badgers.
If Watt doesn’t want to play in a cold weather town, he could head down to Tampa Bay and join the defending champs as they go for a repeat, but he would likely have to play on a cheaper contract. There’s also Los Angeles where he could team up with Aaron Darnold, or even San Francisco to join Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead.
Watt was with Houston for 10 seasons and was arguably the best defensive player in that time span when he was on the field. In those 10 seasons, Watt was an All-Pro eight times with five of those times being First Team All-Pro. Watt also won defensive player of the year three times in four years from 2012-2015. The former first-round pick also lead the NFL in sacks back in 2012 and 2015.
Watt only had one year left on his contract worth $17.5 million this upcoming season, but none of it was guaranteed.
The disaster continues to grow in Houston.
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