HOUSTON – Houston Texans star JJ Watt’s future has been a hot topic this season. On a Thursday Zoom meeting with reporters, Watt said he is unsure if he’ll return next season. He is on the books for $17.5 million in 2021 with no dead cap (meaning the Texans could cut Watt without paying anything).
“I think there’s a whole lot of unknowns in that situation,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of unknowns. So, we’ll see what happens. I don’t have any guarantees left in my contract so something has to happen one way or another. But, we’ll see what happens. I’m not sure. There are too many unknowns.”
In 2014, Watt signed a six-year contract extension for over $100 million, of which $51.8 million of the deal was guaranteed. That made Watt the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
A lot of Watt’s future will be determined by whoever fills the currently vacant general manager role.
When healthy, Watt is still one of the league’s most dominant defensive players. He has earned the Defensive Player of the Year three times and made five All-Pro teams.