JJ Watt has already drawn interest from nearly half of the NFL’s teams since the Houston Texans released him last week, and we now know of at least one legitimate contender to sign the star defensive lineman.
Watt is seriously considering signing with the Cleveland Browns, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports. The two main reasons for that are Watt views the Browns as a Super Bowl contender, and they are also in a good spot with their salary cap.
Watt has prioritized playing for a contending team or one that has the means to immediately turn into a contender. The Browns reached the playoffs this past season and dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round. They then put up a fight against the eventual AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, losing 22-17.
The Browns are projected to have more than $20 million in cap space heading into 2021. That means they could pay Watt fair market value while also having some money left over to make other moves.
We know that these other teams are all interested in Watt, but some of them are over the salary cap. That will be a factor in their pursuit of the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are considered one of the front-runners to sign Watt, as his two brothers TJ and Derek already play there. TJ sent a great tweet about the situation after JJ was released, but the Steelers are over the cap by about $30 million. They would need to make some serious changes in order to be able to add a third Watt.
