Thanks to his decision to part ways with the Houston Texans and sign a two-year $31 million deal with $23 million guaranteed per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFC West just got wilder thanks to the addition of J.J. Watt.
Watt, a former three-time NFL Defensive Player of The Year, was arguably the biggest domino to fall in free agency, single-handedly shook up an entire division in the NFC West that features two top-tier quarterbacks in newly-acquired Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles and the currently disgruntled Russell Wilson up in Seattle, it’s gonna be a lot of sleepless night for the fore-mentioned Wilson, Stafford and Niners QB Jimmy Garrapolo in having to see the former Wisconsin standout twice a year.
The pairing of the 32-year-old Watt with edge rusher Chandler Jones, along with an emerging defense that has pending free agent Hassan Reddick, second-year star in Isaiah Simmons, defensive backs in Budda Baker and Patrick Peterson will be something that Cards defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will be happy to utilize.
While he has battled a series of injuries over the last two years, the addition of Watt to a up-and-coming Arizona team that has a dynamic QB in Kyler Murray and his former Houston teammate in DeAndre Hopkins, the Cardinals are gonna be a problem.
In a division that already has elite pass rushers such as Nick Bosa in San Francisco, Aaron Donald in Los Angeles and Carlos Dunlap in Seattle, Arizona adds it’s own in a Canton-bound legend in Watt.
In what is seemingly a shift of elite talent from the AFC to the NFC facilitated by Tom Brady leaving New England for Tampa Bay, Watt is now the second note-worthy player to switch conferences, and hopefully like the forementioned seven-time Super Bowl champion, elevate his new team to a new plateau of success as well.