Browns, Colts didn’t offer Watt more money than Cardinals?

Former Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) walks onto the field before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Browns, Colts didn't offer J.J. Watt more money than Cardinals?

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Mar 2, 2021 1:51 PM ET

Hours after some accused three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and five-time First-Team All-Pro J.J. Watt of chasing money instead of a Super Bowl title by signing a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals that could be worth up to $31 million, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix reported that both the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts offered Watt more money than Arizona after the Houston Texans officially released the soon-to-be 32-year-old on Feb. 12.

That may not be the case.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com wrote for a piece published on Tuesday that the Browns did not offer Watt "more than the $15.5 million a year the Cardinals gave him." Cabot instead believes it's more likely the Browns presented Watt a deal that included $12 million per season.

Meanwhile, Stephen Holder of The Athletic refuted the notion that the Colts topped Arizona's contract offer:

I don’t want to get into a back and forth, but lots of you are asking me, so here goes...

I know there was a report out of Arizona that JJ Watt turned down bigger money from the Colts. However, I got a VERY strong denial on that. I’m not even certain they made a big push TBH.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) March 2, 2021

Meanwhile, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports added:

Unless the #Colts, #Browns and #Titans are straight up lying, this is not what I’ve been told. I’ve been told by multiple Watt suitors that the $23 million guaranteed in Watt’s Arizona deal was near ceiling for their total $. Teams were trying to get Watt for roughly $12 mil per. https://t.co/elWPjOReD1
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 2, 2021

The so-called "silly season" portion of the NFL calendar carries that name because it often includes rumors linking free agents to potential suitors and sometimes stories that involve a player potentially earning himself a bad reputation among former coaches. All that Cardinals fans care about on the second day of March is that their team acquired a proven and talented asset, and, on paper, is better for it.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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