HOUSTON – The Houston Texans agreed to part with star JJ Watt’s defensive end after the player requested his release.
“I sat down with the McNair family and asked for my release and we mutually agreed to part ways at this point,” Watt said in a video posted on Twitter.
Watt was chosen by the Texans as the No. 11 pick in 2011 and became the face of the franchise, winning three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards between 2012 and 2015. Watt is one of three players to have won that award three times.
Watt is coming off his second season of 16 games since 2015 as he has suffered several seasonal injuries since then.
According to research from ESPN Stats & Information, Watt was ranked 15th out of 119 qualified passing runners in 2020’s Passing Run Win Rate. He finished the season with five sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception that he returned for a touchdown.
Watt is by far the most prolific pass rusher in Texans history, with 101 sacks in his career. Since the franchise’s first season in 2002, there have been only two players in team history with more than 30 career pockets (Whitney Mercilus at 54 and Mario Williams at 53).
During the season, Watt made it clear that he was not interested in playing for a team undergoing a “makeover”.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t have 10 more years in this competition,” Watt said in November. “Personally, I think I have some bigger ones in me. But neither can you … I don’t plan on rebuilding. I’m looking for a championship, and that’s what I want to do.”
When asked at the end of the season if he felt like the 2021 Texans would be in rebuild mode, Watt said there are “so many unknowns in that situation right now that you absolutely can’t say that.”
Watt had one year left on the contract he signed in 2014. He was in debt of $ 17.5 million in 2021, but his salary was not guaranteed. You are now free to sign with another team.