GM Confirms Titans' Interest in J.J. Watt

Jon Robinson expects the five-time All-Pro will take his time before he chooses a new team.

When the Houston Texans parted ways with J.J. Watt last week, a barrage of teams became interested in his elite services immediately.

Clearly, the Tennessee Titans, in serious need of a more consistent pass rush, are one of those teams. General manager Jon Robinson, during a Tuesday afternoon press conference, confirmed team officials have expressed their desire to explore the possibility to with the defensive end, a five-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro and three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year.

“We have had some contact,” Robinson said. “It’s early in the stages. We know his skillset and what he has meant to the Texans, having played against him twice a year, the type of player he is.”

In addition to that, though, both Robinson and coach Mike Vrabel have deep connections with the highly disruptive pass rusher, who compiled 101 sacks -- third among all active players -- over 10 seasons with the Texans.

Robinson’s relationship with Watt goes back to his days with the New England Patriots, when he worked as assistant director of college scouting (2008) and director of college scouting (2009-2013).

Ahead of the 2011 NFL Draft, in which the Texans selected Watt No. 11 overall, Robinson recalls working out with Watt for multiple hours as part of his scouting efforts.

“I actually worked him out when he was with the Patriots, when he was coming out of college,” Robinson said. “He pushed me around on the field pretty good for about two hours.”

Vrabel spent four seasons on the Texans coaching staff in two different roles before landing in Tennessee, three seasons as linebackers coach (2014-16) and one season as a defensive coordinator (2017). In 2017, Watt played five games before suffering a season-ending leg injury. He did not record a sack that season.

But in almost every other season, Watt has been dominant or close to it. He has had at least five sacks seven times, including five seasons with double-digit sacks (he had more than 15 sacks in three of those). The 6-foot-5, 288-pounder has also collected at least 22 tackles for a loss in six of his NFL seasons, including a career-high 39 in 2012. He has 172 for his career, good for second among active players and third all-time.

Watt played in just eight games in 2019 due to a pectoral injury he suffered in Week 8. He did, however, return for both of Houston’s postseason games that season and stayed healthy to appear in all 16 regular season games this past season.

While he is coming off a modest season for his standards (five sacks, 52 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss), the impact Watt can still make is obvious.

And the Titans, after recording just 19 team tacks in 2020 (third-fewest in the league), arguably need a talent like Watt more than any of the other 31 NFL franchises. So, they wasted no time before they began their due diligence on one of the biggest names on the market.

“We will see how it goes, like a lot of these guys who are coming available,” Robinson said. “We’ll see where their interest is and then make a determination of it’s an avenue that we want to go down and if we are a fit for some of these guys that become available.”