Kyler, Hopkins real reasons for Watt’s decision
There wasn’t any single element that convinced free-agent edge rusher J.J. Watt to sign a two-year contract with the Cardinals. It was more a confluence of people, principles and possibilities that led him to choose Arizona over places like Cleveland, Green Bay, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Watt joked that the weather was a factor. The money surely didn’t hurt, either. Watt’s deal is worth a reported $28 million, plus an additional $3 million in possible bonus incentives, and involves $23 million in guaranteed pay.
It isn’t known if another club may have offered him a similar deal or better, but according to Watt, the Cardinals had enough of everything else that nobody could match.
At the top of the list is quarterback Kyler Murray, who followed up his Offensive Rookie of the Year performance by being named one of just three NFC quarterbacks to be selected to the Pro Bowl. Entering his third year in 2021, Murray could be primed to take yet
another leap in his development and be on his way to super stardom.
“He’s had an unbelievable career,” Watt said of Murray, who became the first player in NFL history to throw for 7,500 yards and 45 touchdowns and also rush for 15 touchdowns in his first two seasons. “He’s an incredible athlete and what he’s been able to accomplish, he’s been a winner at every stage of his life and that’s not a coincidence. You’re a winner because of the way you work and because of the aura you give off and because of the talent you have.
“He has all those things he’s going to continue to win and continue to have success and that’s a big part of the reasons I’m here. I told him (Monday) in a text, I said, ‘I’m here because I believe in you.’ You have to have a quarterback in this league to have a chance and he’s our guy and I’m looking forward to going out there and playing with him.”
Think of what that text message must have meant to Murray, 23. If you don’t think that will make him want to work twice as hard to continue getting better, then you don’t know Kyler Murray. Since the day he arrived in Arizona as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, he’s made it crystal clear to anyone listening that he wants to be the best.
“I’m sure it’s motivational, there’s no doubt,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Watt’s text message to Murray. “Kyler is very confident. Kyler knows what he can be in this league and what he can be moving forward. But to have a guy like that kind of validate it and say, ‘Hey, I’ve watched you, I know what you have brewing out there, I know what you can be.’
“A guy (like Watt) with limited years left in his career and wanting to win a championship and chooses the quarterback — that’s pretty impressive and that’s really high praise.”
Beyond Murray, this was also a chance for Watt to reunite with his former Texans teammate, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. In his debut year with the Cardinals following his trade from Houston, Hopkins set a singleseason franchise record with 115 receptions, which ranked second in the league, and had 1,407 receiving yards, which ranked third overall.
Hopkins was the first Cardinals player to actively try and recruit Watt to Arizona, posting an image on social media of the two men hugging each other with the words, “Let’s finish what we started.”
“It never hurts to have one of the best wide receiver in the game going out there and stumping for you,” Watt said, chuckling. “And especially a guy who’s a friend and I’ve known for a very long time. It doesn’t hurt to have a guy that can catch a ball anywhere on the field and score touchdowns and catch a Hail Mary over three guys. That doesn’t hurt, either, to have on your team.
“I’m very excited to be back on the same team with him. I’m very excited to be able to have a front row seat to watching the plays that he makes, especially with him and Kyler connecting and some of the things they’re able to do between the two of them on the field in Kliff and his offense. I’m excited about that and it will be nice to have a little Gatorade on the bench and just watch them go to work.”
The ability to join forces with fellow elite pass rusher Chandler Jones was also an intriguing factor for Watt. Jones has 97 sacks since entering the league in 2012, the most in the NFL over that span. During that same time period Watt has 951⁄2 sacks, the second-most overall. They’re combined 1,142 career quarterback pressures are the most of any active edge-rushing tandem.
“He’s an incredible player, incredible pass rusher, and I can’t wait to get out there and work with him,” Watt said. “Just to be on the practice field, to be talking about games and what we want to run together, to be talking about schemes. What do we see? How do we see things? That’s one of the most fun parts of the game is when you have guys that love the game, that love studying the film, that love of being on the practice field and that love of putting in the work.
“When you have a team full of guys like that who just have a passion for winning and a drive for wanting to be great, that’s when football is just the best. Because then you feed off each other and everybody’s asking questions and it’s, ‘How can we get better? What did you see here? How can you do this?’ And there’s nothing better than that feeling. That’s how everybody around you gets better.”
It also helps that the main man in charge of making sure the Cardinals put both Watt and Jones in the best position possible to make plays is defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who just happened to be a coach with Houston during Watt’s first three seasons there.
Joseph runs many of the same concepts the Texans ran under then-defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and much of it was structured around allowing Watt to get after the quarterback and quickly get behind the line of scrimmage in general.
“I had a great time with Vance early in my career,” Watt said. “He’s a great coach, very, very knowledgeable. A great command of the system, his players. He knows how to handle the guys. He’s a great coach so that has its own merits to it. And then obviously the scheme he runs is a scheme I’m very familiar with and something I’m very excited to play in again.
“Trying to get a lot of one-on-ones, trying to get guys freed up so you have that opportunity to go get after the passer while rushing coverage and working tandem together so we get covered on the back end and we get a rush up front to make them get he ball out quicker. All those things are going to help each other be better. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim noted how the defense improved considerably under Joseph from 2019 to 2020. The Cardinals went from being ranked last overall on total defense to 13th. They also went from secondto-last in passing yards per game and touchdown passes to 10th and 14th, respectively.
“We made big strides defensively just putting a system in place and having the players get acclimated,” Keim said. “With the J.J. thing, I knew early because it was indicated through J.J. and his representation that Vance was a big part of this and their relationship and the comfort he had with Vance and how he would use him and getting back to playing in this system, which Vance worked in with Wade Phillips in Houston.
“I know Vance and he talked quite a bit throughout this process about the schematics and how he would use him and different ways to rush on guards and tackles. It excited J.J. and it made him comfortable, aside from living in paradise, which we all live in.”
Keim also played a big hand in the recruitment of Watt, urging Cardinalsconnected celebrities such as country music singer Blake Shelton and comedian Frank Caliendo to make their own private pitches to the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Caliendo made a phone call to Watt on the Cardinals’ behalf and Shelton sent along a personalized video.
“I give them credit,” Watt
“They attacked from all angles.”
Multiple Cardinals players also called and left text messages with Watt, from veterans Larry Fitzgerald to Patrick Peterson and younger stars such as Murray and Budda Baker. Nearly everyone chipped in and all the pieces just perfectly fell into place.
“Anytime you recruit a guy like J.J. Watt, at least of that stature, to me you want to do as much as you can,” Keim said. “I obviously think Arizona is a destination place for players across the league. I’ve gotten a number of calls and texts from our own players who help recruit and that’s what you love about your locker room. The guys are vested, they care.
“… But when you’re pulling other people, it’s fun, too, because we all know that everybody loves the celebrity world and to have guys like Frank and obviously Blake Shelton as a friend, those guys can help, too.”
said.