The Breaking News as of March 1st was that the former Houston Texans 6X All-Pro Defensive End , JJ Watt, announced that he signed a 2 year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
For those who don't know, JJ Watt is one of the most recognizable faces and names in the NFL.
JJ is known throughout the league as a dominant playmaker on the defensive line and standout citizen off the field.
It’s reported that JJ Watt will earn 31 million dollars in this 2 year deal.
Good for JJ.
He’s on a team with a lot of talent, he gets a fresh start with a new organization, he’s got some familiar faces on the Cardinals team (Watt is now reunited with former Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins, Cornerback Johnathan Joseph, & now D.C Vance Joseph), plus, he’s getting a BIG paycheck!
Great!
But, the Arizona Cardinals are not close to where they need to be in order to make (and win) a Super Bowl.
I mean let’s be real, this 2021 Cardinals team right now is closer to being the 2018 Texans team than the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
The biggest similarities that jumped out at me between the 2018 Texans and 2021 Cardinals (so far) included:
In short, I think the Cardinals are currently in the same boat as this 2018 Texans team was. They're obviously building something, but they still have a long way to go and a lot of things they need to address (find better Corner's, fix defense, a better RB, better offensive game-plan, improved O-Line, etc).
I think if JJ wanted to win a Super Bowl now and give himself the ring he deserves, there were at least 3 teams more Super Bowl ready than the Arizona Cardinals that could have used a player like him.
Here are 3 teams in my opinion that are more Super Bowl ready than the Arizona Cardinals that could have used a star defensive end like JJ Watt.
1. The Green Bay Packers
The Packers are very close to being Super Bowl ready. Heck, if they had beaten the Buccaneers in the NFC championship game last season they would have made the Super Bowl.
Green Bay’s stellar secondary, offensive chemistry, and trust in their Head Coach Matt LaFleur led them to the NFC Championship game in 2020. Personally, I believe all these things will help them make the push to a Super Bowl very shortly.
The Packers in my opinion also have one of the easiest paths to the Playoffs in the NFL. This is because they play in one of the easiest divisions in the NFL. They might make games out of who they play, but lets be real, the Lions, Vikings, and Bears are essentially 6 W’s for the Packers and a ticket punched for the playoffs ( that’s harder to say about the NFC West where JJ Watt just moved into).
That being said, in order to actually make the Super Bowl, the Packers really need a reliable WR2 for Aaron Rodgers (not named Valdez-Scantling or Lazard… they had their chance), to keep a guy like Aaron Jones around, and to add a player or two to fix their horrendous run defense such as JJ Watt.
In all, this Packers team has the talent to make the Super Bowl, an NFL MVP at QB, deep playoff experience, and they also have some easy fixes they can make to improve themselves moving forward, and a rather easy division to work with. I think the city of Green Bay would have really liked bringing in a guy like Watt too. JJ went to the University of Wisconsin (only 140 miles from Green Bay), so Watt would have been someone both the fans and the organization could have gotten behind.
2. The Buffalo Bills.
Like the Packers, the Bills made the championship game too, but in the AFC. The Bills actually made headlines last season by doing it too.
It was all thanks to the patience and excellent management by Bills General Manager Brandon Beane as well as great coaching and execution from the Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll, and Head Coach Sean McDermott.
This past year, everything seemed to come into fruition for Buffalo. In their 2020 season alone, Bill’s QB Josh Allen proved himself as an MVP caliber QB and newly acquired WR, Stefon Diggs, verified himself to be an elite WR1 option and go-to player.
Not to mention, the Bills Offense also scored a whopping 501 points in the regular season and averaged over 400 yds of offense a game! As for the Bill’s defense, like the Packers, they have some of the best DB’s in the game on their team and a pack of young Defensive lineman to work with.
So, what makes the Bills more in line to a Super Bowl than the Cardinals? Well, having a top 3 scoring Offense doesn’t hurt. The Bills in 2020 were one of two teams to score 31 pts per game (If you guessed the Packers as the other team congrats here’s a random fact: one 18-inch pizza can feed more people than two 12 inch medium pizzas). I think, this team will only get better with time too.
If all the Bills need to do is upgrade a few offensive guys (like a Runningback and maybe another Tight End to help propel this already sharp offense) as well as add some guys on their defensive front (like they could have done by adding JJ Watt) this team would have been set not only with a valuable veteran presence for their young D-lineman, but they would have obtained a much needed x-factor up-front.
Now you might be wondering, what makes this different than the Cardinals situation? After all, this Cardinals team has talent too…
In my opinion, the Bills got to where they were because they had great coaching, a great plan years in the making, and they forged a new offensive identity and stuck with it. All things the Cardinals could do in the future, but at the moment they need to execute running their offense better as well as upgrade their defensive secondary.
3. The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are Super Bowl ready too. It didn’t really seem like it in the first round of the playoff’s in 2020, but one thing is for sure, they have a killer defense again and their offense is making a turnaround.
As for how their offense is making a turnaround and how that could help the Steelers emerge as Super Bowl contenders, I think this has a lot to do with Big Ben being back.
Contrary to popular opinion, I believe Ben gives the Steelers the best chance of getting the Steelers to and winning a Super Bowl. Rudolf isn’t a horrible replacement if need be, but Ben has the playoff and Super Bowl experience the Steelers need in order to advance.
Obviously, last season vs the Browns was not a great example of Big Ben's playoff experience being helpful, but he has won two Super Bowl's (2006 & 2009) which Rudolf or really any other QB on the current Steelers or hypothetical future candidates ( Sam Darnold, Deshaun Watson, Kyle Trask(R), Mac Jones (R)) can say they have. Not to mention, he is one of five of the remaining starting QBs in the NFL (12.5%) that have won a Super Bowl since 2005 ( Tom Brady, Russel Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, & Big Ben).
Now in 2021, With Ben taking a pay cut and having a lot of offensive weapons still to work with I like the direction the Steeler offense is headed in. The one thing they need to worry about offensively is who will take over at RB with Conner likely gone and executing plays ( like diontae catching the ball or Ben not throwing 3 INTs in the first quarter). Little things like these will go a long way in the future.
Why does any of this matter to JJ? Why does a "Killer Steeler defense" need a guy like JJ?
Well, I think with the inevitable departure of DE Bud Dupree, having a guy like JJ Watt on the opposite side of his brother TJ , not only would have made a great storyline, but would have been a really lethal combo for the Steelers up front that would have made this defense even better! (Plus it would mean all three Watts would be a Steeler which would have been an even bigger storyline).
Would this even be possible given the Steelers cap space?
Probaby not. If the Steelers couldn’t pay Dupree they likely don’t have the money for JJ. Plus, they still have high-priced free agents like Juju Smith-Schuster and James Conner to think about possibly paying (although I don’t think either will return). Yet, in this fantasy-day dreaming world we live in, adding a player like JJ Watt to the Steelers would have been an opportunity to improve their already elite Defense and experienced playoff Offense.
My Take Away:
JJ is an optimist.
He see’s the glass of water half full.
There is no doubt that the Cardinals have a lot of talent to work with this coming year, plus there is still a lot of time for them to make other moves not only in Free Agency (starting March 17), but in the NFL Draft as well (April 29th-May 1st).
The fact of the matter is they are still a long way from reaching a Super Bowl and I think if JJ wanted to reach a Super Bowl over the next two years I think he would have had better odds with teams like the Packers, Bills, or Steelers.
If you have any question or comments about this topic feel free to email me at bullseyefantasy1@gmail.com.
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