Arizona Cardinals to sign free agent J.J. Watt

Star defensive lineman J.J. Watt will sign with the Arizona Cardinals, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. After some Peloton bio confusion, which made it seem that Watt was heading elsewhere, the veteran pass rusher tweeted out where he was actually going:

Rapoport reports that Watt will sign a 2-year deal worth $31M with $23M guaranteed. Watt will join Chandler Jones in the Cardinals defensive line, giving the team a formidable pass rush in 2021. Jones was injured and out most of 2020, but accumulated 18 sacks in 2019. Watt has dealt with injuries of late, but was able to play all last season and at a high level. He could see his snaps limited in an opportunity to make him more effective on passing downs, but it’s still too early to know how he’ll be used in Arizona.

The Cardinals have firepower on offense with Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins leading the way. Now Watt will join his old Houston Texans teammate Hopkins in the hopes that the defense can take a step forward this season to get the team over the hump and into the playoffs.