Defensive end J.J. Watt revealed Friday morning on Twitter that he and the Houston Texans have decided to mutually part ways. Watt now should then become a free agent in the coming days and thus will be able to pick the next team that he wants to play for. On the heels of that Friday morning news, fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping that J.J. Watt will soon sign with Pittsburgh so that he can play with his two brothers currently on the team outside linebacker T.J. Watt and fullback Derrek Watt. Comically, DraftKings Sportsbook now has the Steelers as the odds-on favorite at +400 to sign the eldest Watt brother.
The Green Bay Packers have the second-best odds to land J.J. Watt at +900. Watt, who will be 32 years of age in March, is now obviously in the later stage of his NFL career and quite possibly looking to sign with a team that will give him a great shot at winning a Super Bowl. Staying in his home state of Wisconsin to play for the Packers might just be the best fit for him to do that.
The Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks are tied for the third-best odds to land Watt at +1000. The Bills reached the AFC Championship Game in 2020 and have a young and capable quarterback in Josh Allen. The Seahawks will also likely be a 2021 Super Bowl contending as long as quarterback Russell Wilson is under center.
The Steelers have serious salary cap issues to work through in the next four weeks and right now, signing the eldest Watt brother seems like a huge luxury. Watt was scheduled to earn $17.5 million in 2021 prior to he and the Texans parring ways. He’s worth at least half of that amount a year right now and possibly more. He would likely need to take near the NFL minimum for the Steelers to have a shot at signing him.
On top of everything else, the Steelers already have two starting defensive ends in Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt. Because of that, it would be tough to find a heavy amount of playing time for Watt should the Steelers sign him.
Odds and everything out there, it would be quite surprising to see J.J. Watt sign with the Steelers this offseason and below is a link to reasons why.
