After a morning of Twitter-fueled speculation, free agent defensive end J.J. Watt revealed in a tweet Monday that he's signing with the Arizona Cardinals.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 30, 2021 What. Have to wonder what that 4th quarter looks like if DiDi Richards doesn’t go out with the injury, but man what a game. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. March 1st in JJ Watt news. Morning: People went wild because a Peloton account claiming to be JJ Watt listed 'GB, CLE, BUF' in its bio. 11:51 AM: Watt tweeted 'i don't own a bike. Watt took a page out of the Deshaun Watson cryptic Twitter book, it seems. NFL fans are waiting on the edge of their seats waiting for the ex-Houston Texan to announce where he's headed next.
source: me. pic.twitter.com/1Y6okQBUy5
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 1, 2021Welcome to the Valley, @JJWatt!
We have agreed to terms with J.J. Watt on a two-year contract.
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) March 1, 2021The terms of the deal haven't been officially announced, but his two-year contract is reportedly worth $31 million with $23 million guaranteed.
The #AZCardinals are giving JJ Watt a 2-year deal worth $31M with $23M guaranteed, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2021Watt, who will turn 32 in three weeks, spent the first decade of his career with the Houston Texans and established himself as a force. He's a five-time Pro Bowler, Defensive Player of the Year three times and has led the NFL in sacks twice. He's also known for his humanitarian work, having won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2017 for his incredible hurricane relief efforts in the Houston area.
The Texans' messy implosion during the 2020 season, which has spread into the offseason, likely damaged their relationship with Watt. As he walked off the field with quarterback Deshaun Watson after the final game of their 4-12 season, Watt apologized to him for wasting one of the QB's prime years. In February, Watt asked for and was granted his release and became a free agent.
© Provided by Yahoo! Sports Defensive end J.J. Watt has signed a two-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)In Arizona, Watt will be reunited with former Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who tweeted in celebration of the deal himself. The Texans surprisingly traded Hopkins to the Cardinals a year ago for a minimal return, a move that ended up signaling the forthcoming meltdown of Houston's front office and ownership.
The Cards will face the Texans during the 2021 season, so Watt and Hopkins will have a chance to get revenge on their former team.
Peloton profile wasn't real
As soon as Watt became a free agent, his eventual destination became one of the biggest topics of the offseason. By Monday it had gotten so crazy that someone apparently made up a fake Peloton profile for Watt that named his three top destinations as the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.
J.J. Watt has updated his Peloton bio and it now reads: “SB56...GB...CLE...BUF”
🤔🤔🤔
If nothing else, JJ has us all dialed in.
(h/t @Pchopz_) pic.twitter.com/C7bzBuMgSq
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 1, 2021It didn't take long for Watt to jump on Twitter and debunk the whole thing, shattering the dreams of Packers, Browns and Bills fans around the world.
i don’t own a bike. stop.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 1, 2021Fans of those teams were able to keep a flicker of hope alive for less than an hour, which is when Watt announced he was signing with the Cardinals.
Jj Watt Twitter Post
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