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.J. WATT
DL, ARIZONA CARDINALS
Cardinals signed DE J.J. Watt to a two-year, $31 million contract.
Considered a long shot, Arizona kept a low profile to sign Watt, who was considering the Packers, Browns, and Steelers among others. The money is reasonable, featuring $23 million in guarantees. Heading into his age-32 season, Watt will likely play more snaps on the inside as some of his speed dwindles, but he still brings a high-end edge presence in spurts. Per NextGenStats, Watt was double teamed at the highest rate in the NFL last year (30%). It's unclear if the Watt signing means Arizona won't re-sign OLB Haasan Reddick (13.0 sacks in 2020), but if he were to come back the trio of Watt, Reddick, and OLB Chandler Jones would vault the Cardinals' pass rush into top-three consideration. They were eighth in adjusted sack rate last season while playing aggressive man coverage on the backend. Arizona's front office is certainly chasing their rookie quarterback contract window to win.
