Although I haven't taken a formal poll of Houston Texans fans, I would have to imagine that one of the saddest days in the history of this young franchise would be March 1, 2021... the day that J.J. Watt, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and the greatest player in Texans franchise history, officially ended his time in Houston, signing with the Arizona Cardinals on a two-year, $28 million contract.
Watt's departure to the NFC left no ill-will with Texans fans, but nonetheless, it's unfortunate that #99 couldn't have played his entire career in a Texans uniform. It just wasn't meant to be. But what else wasn't meant to be was Watt signing with the one team he particularly had eyes for that offseason.
“I wanted to play for the Packers in free agency,” Watt revealed during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I wanted to go to Green Bay. They were not interested. I told my agent, 'I don’t care what the number is, I don’t care how low it is, tell me what it is so I can at least consider it.' I said, 'I’m not saying there’s a guarantee to take it, but if it’s $2 million, if it’s $4 million, whatever the number is, put it in front of me so that I can at least consider it against all these options.' And they said, ‘We can’t get a number.’”
For those who closely followed J.J. Watt's career during his decade with the Texans, it's likely common knowledge that Watt not only played three seasons for the University of Wisconsin, but he's also originally from the state in which the Packers are, with all due respect to the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers, the biggest game in town.
"That’s where I grew up. I watched Reggie White," Watt added, somewhat appropriately since that is the class of defensive end that Watt finds himself in. "That would be incredible. I said I’d take a significant hometown discount to play there, but I just needed to know what that looked like so I could at least consider it against all options. I was not given a number to consider.”
It's hard to believe that the Packers weren't at all interested in Watt, even with Watt admitting that a $5 million per year offer would've gotten the deal done. At that time, the Packers were in win-now mode with Aaron Rodgers in MVP form, so it just doesn't make sense that Green Bay wouldn't bite, especially since we now know that Watt still had some good football left in him.