J.J. Watt Almost Didn't Sign With Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals nearly lost J.J, Watt to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The career of J.J. Watt officially came to an end at the conclusion of the 2022, bowing out what will surely be a Hall of Fame career with the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals.

Watt only spent two seasons in the desert after playing majority of his career in Houston, where he established himself as an all-time great by achieving numerous Pro Bowls, All-Pro nods and three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. 

Watt departed for Arizona in hopes of pursuing a Super Bowl with the Cardinals - which did look like a possibility in 2021 when the team started 7-0. 

However, things drastically flattened for Arizona since then, and thus there wasn't much gas left in the tank for Watt, even after 12.5 sacks to finish the final season of his career. 

Cardinals fans will always look fondly at their time rooting for Watt in their uniform - but what if that never happened? 

Watt recently appeared on the Green Light Podcast hosted by former NFL players Chris and Kyle Long and said the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the list of teams during his free agency period.

Watt would have joined Pittsburgh to play with brothers T.J. and Derek Watt, though T.J. was in the midst of negotiating his four-year, $112 million contract extension. 

Watt said he didn't want to take any money away from his brother. 

"They were [on the list]. It certainly would have been awesome to play with my brothers, but T.J. was also going through the contract situation there, so the last thing I wanted to do was come in and take any money away from his contract," Watt said (h/t All Steelers). 

As you know, Watt chose the Cardinals and the rest has been history - though the temptation of playing with his two brothers even carried over to this offseason.

“The Steelers fans are literally one the best fanbases I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. Everywhere I go, ‘Hey I love you, but I’m huge Steelers fan. I love your brother. Hey, come to the Steelers. Hey, we’d love you in Pittsburgh.’ It’s unbelievable," said Watt on the Pardon My Take podcast. 

Watt has plenty on his plate for the upcoming season between being a father, husband, owner of Burnley Football Club and CBS Sports analyst. 

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