Cardinals signing former Texans DE J.J. Watt to 2-year contract

Another former Houston Texans All-Pro will continue his storied career with the Arizona Cardinals.

According to Ian Rapoport from the NFL Network, former Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will sign a two-year contract with the NFC West club worth $31 million with $23 million guaranteed.

The Cardinals defense gets deadlier as they already have a pass-rushing force in edge defender Chandler Jones, although he was limited to five games in 2020. Outside linebacker Haason Reddick led the Cardinals with 12.5 sacks.

Watt is also joining forces with former Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was traded to the Cardinals at the start of free agency in 2020. Over the course of the past 12 months, the Texans have seen two of their star players in the 2010s end up with Arizona.

In 2020, the former 2011 first-round pick from Wisconsin had a down year with 5.0 sacks through 16 starts. However, Watt’s 14 tackles for loss were in the top-10, and his seven pass breakups were the most since 2015, his last season to win defensive player of the year, when he collected eight. The 31-year-old also returned an interception for a touchdown, the first time since 2014.

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