What Now For J.J. Watt?

So JJ Watt has left the Houston Texans by mutual consent after meeting with team officials. Watt won the Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and has been the star player on the team for his 10 seasons there.   

John Salangsang/AP Images)

However, injuries have slowed Watt down in recent years as he has only played over half the games in two of the last five seasons. Injuries to his pec, his tibia and two seperate back surgeries in 2016 have left it hard for him to get back to his peak.

At this point of his career, he may have to accept being more of a rotational player and not being involved as much, especially if he wants to play for a team that can contend for a Super Bowl.

For the Texans, this is probably the official signal that they are starting a rebuild, as the DeShaun Watson drama is still playing out and he could also be on the move sooner rather than later.

Of course, it’s a totally different situation with Watson given the player’s age, contract situation  and position he plays but Watt has been one of the faces of the city Houston since he was drafted in the first round by the Texans in the 2011 draft.

Now the big question for Watt is where is the best place for him to go. He will be 32 in March and is no doubt looking to go somewhere that has a chance of winning a Super Bowl title over the next few seasons.

There is talk that the Texans tried to trade him but didn’t get much response around the league. This is most likely due to teams knowing Watt’s contract situation and him being unhappy. At this point, teams likely knew that Watt would push his way out soon enough, which isn’t very good for the Texans.

Now that he is a free agent, he should get a few offers to pick from.

There has been a lot of talk about him being a great fit in Tampa Bay and nowhere else looks better for success at the minute than Tampa.

A lot of the Tampa Bay players are talking about coming back, but edge rusher Shaq Barrett is also talking about how this is his chance to “Break the bank” this offseason as he is up for a contract extension so it is likely that Tampa Bay won’t have enough money to pay everyone. Seeing as Watt has already made his money and the Bucs have an excellent defensive line where he could come in and out as required, this situation would make perfect sense for both sides.

Watt could make a big impact and get that ring at the same time.

The Steelers may not make as much sense from a football point of view as they seem to be a team on the decline. With the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns coming on strong with young quarterbacks and the Bengals having great hope for Joe Burrow, it is easy to see the Steelers struggling for the next few seasons.

The family pull might just be too much for Watt and he might want to finish out his days playing with his two younger brothers -- T.J. and Derek -- and maybe he could reignite the team to a championship.

Other teams being mentioned are the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots.

While his love for Texas may tempt him to the Cowboys, it’s very hard to imagine the Cowboys or the Patriots making a playoff run next year unless they make big offseason moves so maybe Watt will be among those.

The others can make sense as they are all teams that are very close but just need that extra little help to get over the line. 

Watt is also a Wisconsin native so the lure to return home might take him to Green Bay.

It is hard to imagine Watt leaving the Texans just to move to another team that doesn’t seem to have a chance to win anytime soon so I would expect him to be moving to a team that was in the playoffs this past season.

When you look at how only the Buccaneers and Chargers were interested in Tom Brady this time last year when Leonard Fournette was cut by Jacksonville, when Antonio Brown was having off-field issues with the law and when Rob Gronkowski was doing wrestling, they all jumped on the hype on joined the Buccaneers to chase a Super Bowl championship and they all proved to be massive impact players that can thrive when put in the right situation late in their careers.

There are a lot of free-agent moves to be made this summer and it will be interesting to see where Watt ends up and to see if he can regain his Defensive Player of the Year form and make a big impact on a contending team.