The Cardinals got the final two years of defensive lineman J.J. Watt’s illustrious NFL career. It was big news when he signed with them in 2021.
However, while Watt played his final two years in Arizona, the Cardinals were not his first choice.
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Watt revealed that he would have loved to have returned home to Wisconsin to play for the Green Bay Packers, and he would have played for cheap. He talked about it on the Pat McAfee Show.
“That’s where I wanted to go,” he said. “I told my agent, ‘I don’t care what the number is. I don’t care how low it is. Tell me what it is so I can at least consider it.’ I’m not saying there’s a guarantee to take it. I said if it’s $2 million, if it’s $4 million — whatever the number is, put it in front of me, so I can at least consider it against all these options.”
His agent told him, “we can’t get a number.”
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He said that “$5 million would have gotten it done” to agree to join the Packers.
He ended up signing a two-year contract with the Cardinals, for much more than $5 million. He got a two-year, $28 million deal.
He played two seasons for the Cardinals before retiring after the 2022 season. He had 12.5 sacks his final season.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: J.J. Watt wanted to finish career with Packers, not Cardinals