After giving him a contract worth almost $30 million earlier this year, the Arizona Cardinals reportedly plan to significantly reduce J.J. Watt’s time on the field in 2021.
Heading into the 2021 season, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the potential of the new Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt.
Watt is joining a defense that already features an All-Pro pass rusher in Chandler Jones. So the combination of Watt and Jones on the defensive line has some Arizona fans thinking the defense will give nightmares to every opposing quarterback this season.
Watt is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, but he’s already said he’ll be ready for the Cardinals’ regular-season opener. How much Arizona reportedly plans to play him in that matchup and in every other contest during the 2021 campaign might surprise some fans.
Report reveals how much the Arizona Cardinals want J.J. Watt on the field this season
Aside from the years in which he missed time due to injury, Watt has typically been on the field for around 90 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. However, it doesn’t sound like the Cardinals are going to let him continue to be on the field for that long in 2021.
According to NFL Media’s Jim Trotter, Arizona’s plan for Watt this year is to limit his defensive snaps to around 65 percent. As a member of the Houston Texans in 2020, Watt was on the field for 91 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
65 percent seems extremely low for a guy that the Cardinals just gave a contract to that is worth almost $30 million. It makes one wonder why Arizona even signed Watt if they were going to significantly reduce his time on the field anyway.
While the All-Pro defensive lineman’s experience and leadership should prove to be an asset for some of the Cardinals’ younger players, it still seems odd to give him an average of $14 million per year to play almost 30 percent fewer snaps than what he’s typically used to.
If this is truly Arizona’s plan for Watt, we’ll have to see how long it lasts. Because it might sound like a good idea at first, but the competitive nature of the Cardinals’ new defensive lineman might take over, and it could result in him fighting to stay on the field for a longer amount of time each week.