Packers can't afford to sign All-Pro J.J. Watt?
Almost immediately after three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans officially parted ways on Feb. 12, some began to link him with the Green Bay Packers.
Watt grew up in Wisconsin and played his college football with the Badgers. The Packers have reigning Most Valuable Player and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback and were a win away from playing in Super Bowl LV. A marriage between the two entities makes sense.
Or maybe it doesn't. In fact, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweeted on Friday that the Packers won't be signing Watt:
The Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans are among playoff teams that are reported suitors pursuing Watt during the second half of February, and the Spotrac NFL team salary cap tracker suggests all of those clubs would win a bidding war over the Packers.
It's worth noting that NFL clubs employ cap specialists just for these scenarios, and also that Watt has earned millions upon millions of dollars from league contracts and endorsements over the years. The veteran who turns 32 next month could offer the Packers a significant discount to return home and potentially finish his career with Green Bay.
The latest development in "Watt Watch" could be summarized in four words: Free agency is wild.
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