Green Bay Packers No Surprise are “Interested” in JJ Watt

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, but per Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, the Green Bay Packers are one of a dozen or so teams “interested” in free agent JJ Watt.

On Friday, Ed Werder of ESPN reported that 12 teams were interested in signing Watt. However, of the teams that he listed, the Packers were not one of them. But now we have that confirmation.

From a football standpoint, this is a move that makes all the sense in the world for the Green Bay Packers, especially with Preston Smith’s future up in the air. If Green Bay does in fact move on from Smith for $8 million in cap savings, an under the radar need this offseason becomes the edge rusher position—and Watt would be an ideal replacement.

At this point in his career, Watt is not at the Defensive Player of the Year level that he was during his prime, and yes, he has battled injuries, playing in eight games or less during the 2016, 2017, and 2019 seasons.

However, that doesn’t mean he still can’t be an impactful player.

In 2018, Watt tallied 16 sacks, seven forced fumbles, 18 tackles for loss, and 78 pressures while being named a first-team All-Pro.

This past season he played in all 16 games and over 1,000 snaps while recording five sacks and 45 pressures. For comparison’s sake, Za’Darius Smith totaled 12 sacks and 49 pressures on 858 snaps during the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus ($).

And while Watt has primarily been an edge rusher over his career, we’ve seen him utilized more inside recently, which would provide Kenny Clark some additional and much-needed help while allowing the Packers to have Watt, Smith, and Rashan Gary all on the field at the same time.

Below is a good breakdown from Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus on Watt’s usage:

As I said, from a football standpoint, this move makes sense, plus Watt is a former Wisconsin Badger, who grew up a Packer fan, and since becoming a free agent, has made it very clear that he wants to sign with a contender—which the Packers are. But before that can happen, Green Bay has to be in a better financial position to do so.

With the salary cap projected to fall to around the $180 million dollar range, Green Bay, like many teams, find themselves over the salary cap. On Saturday, they were able to convert about $11 million of David Bakhtiari’s roster bonus to a signing bonus, which freed up about $8.3 million in cap space.

With that said, they still sit about $20 million over the cap—and that doesn’t include what Watt is going to cost, or the draft class, or any in-season spending. Although 31 years old, Watt is still a very good player, a tremendous locker room presence, and the market is going to reflect that.

Now, this isn’t to say it’s impossible to sign Watt, it’s an option, but Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers have some serious cap maneuvering to do if that’s going to happen.

For the time being, we will continue to wait and see how this all plays out. But good news, Packer fans, Green Bay is interested.