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Less than a month ago the NFL saw one of its more visible faces become a free agent when the Houston Texans released defensive superstar J.J. Watt. Watt has been one of the best defenders in the league almost from the very beginning of his career in 2011. He has piled up sack after sack up, with DPOY award after DPOY award, which made it seem likely that a number of teams would be interested in his services a decade after he was initially drafted.
We spoke then about how the Dallas Cowboys should have been absolutely interested in acquiring Watt. The Cowboys have infamously been rather stingy in free agency as of late which made the idea of them landing Watt seem like a dream among dreams, but it still made sense for them to at least look into.
Ultimately whether or not the Cowboys truly inquired about Watt is something that we may or may not find out, but we do know that he has a new home. He’s headed to the desert.
J.J. Watt is signing with the Arizona Cardinals, who the Dallas Cowboys play this season
One of the worst games for the Cowboys this past season was their home date against the Arizona Cardinals. This game occurred on Monday Night Football so the whole world saw their demise. Good times.
It feels safe to say that one of their biggest contests in 2021 (there are a lot of tough games on the schedule) will be against the Cardinals again. The game will take place at AT&T Stadium and hopefully be a chance for Dallas to get even a bit, but that will be a bit tougher now that Watt is a member of the Cardinals.
source: me. pic.twitter.com/1Y6okQBUy5
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 1, 2021
Watt reportedly got a two-year deal worth $31 million with $23 million guaranteed.
Stopping a combination of J.J. Watt and Chandler Jones won’t exactly be easy. The Cowboys will hopefully have Tyron Smith and La’el Collins back in the fold for 2021, plus if they take either Rashawn Slater or Penei Sewell in the draft, they will have some reinforcements on hand.
While the Cowboys will play the Cardinals next season, it is interesting to note that the Seattle Seahawks will play Arizona twice since they are division rivals. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has made it clear that he wants help along the offensive line, he has even said that the Cowboys are among the teams he would play for if Seattle traded him, and it can’t make him all too pleased that now he has to play in the same division as Aaron Donald, Nick Bosa, and J.J. Watt on the same line as Chandler Jones.
One of the bigger dominoes has now fallen with regards to this NFL offseason. There are still a whole lot left to go which means we should be in for an exciting month.
Welcome to March.