It seems that JJ Watt’s dream of joining the TJ and Derek brothers in Pittsburgh is dead.
Despite the great recruiting efforts of his Steelers brothers, the three teams Watt is deciding on are Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers, said ESPN member John Clayton in 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. He also mentioned the Las Vegas Raiders as an underdog.
Pittsburgh has been widely speculated as a possible landing site for the older Watt, but they are also preparing for a major limit crisis in 2021. As it currently stands, Steelers are projected to be around $ 6 million over the limit , by Spotrac. They could restructure Ben Roethlisberger’s contract to reduce his $ 41 million limit, but Bud Dupree, Alejandro Villanueva and Juju Smith-Schuster, among others, are all free agents.
The Packers are also a little over the limit, but they can save money by cutting veterans like Dean Lowry and Preston Smith, or they can extend Davante Adams, who is in the final year of his contract. With Rodgers perhaps near the end of his time at Green Bay, adding a star like Watt would make a lot of sense.
The Titans are coming out of a season when they attacked heavily with free defensive agents. Their two main signings, Jadaveon Clowney and Vic Beasley, together received over $ 20 million guaranteed and combined for a total of zero sacks (Beasley was cut mid-season). Watt can help fix a defense that ranked 29th in the defensive DVOA in 2020.
The Bills are coming out of a place in the AFC Championship and, although their defense has come strong in the final stretch, they lack a real passing force. Watt, 31, is not the player he was at the beginning of the decade in Houston, but it would still be a major upgrade for the edge rusher group.