CLEVELAND, Ohio – JJ Watt has a chance to get close to the $ 17.5 million he walked away from in Houston, according to a report.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported on Thursday morning that Watt had received several offers per source, the best of which was between $ 15 and $ 16 million a year.
She did not specify which team offered so much. The Browns are one of the many teams that have Watt at stake, and one of the only ones strongly linked to him with ample headroom. Other teams that have expressed interest or are believed to be interested are Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Las Vegas. The cardinals also said they would inquire about him.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also reported on Wednesday night that Watt had narrowed down his choices, but ‘nothing is imminent’.
As of Sunday, the Browns were still in the mix because they had a lot of things Watt was looking for, including Super Bowl potential, a good quarterback, a good cast and money, the league source told Cleveland.com.
Of the teams most associated with Watt so far, the Browns are 14th in the NFL with $ 27.66 million in space for their 51 best players. According to spotrac.com, the Bills are 20th with $ 4.5 million, the Titans are 21st with $ 2.30 million, the Packers are 25th with $ 4.5 million over the hood, and the Steelers are $ 6.029 million over the hood .
The Steelers will soon be able to clear enough headroom if they redesign Ben Roethlisberger’s contract, which the team’s president, Art Rooney II, said in a statement on Tuesday, the ‘next step’ is in the process of returning as their starter for 2021
Roethlisberger, who has a $ 15 million roster bonus on March 19, will earn $ 19 million in 2021, but has a $ 41.25 million cap. If the two sides agree on a restructuring, which Roethlisberger said he was willing to do, the Steelers will have the opportunity to bolster his supporting cast with some new lineouts and perhaps a new setback.
However, that does not mean they could afford the older brother of TJ and Derek Watt, who could earn from $ 12.5 million a year to $ 17.5 million a year, depending on the duration and structure of the deal.
Teams are currently releasing players and restructuring contracts to get under the hood, which is expected to amount to about $ 185 million somewhere by the time the league year begins on March 17. The canopy was raised from $ 175 million to $ 180 million last week.
If the Browns do not land Watt, they will consider other top-pass rushers such as Von Miller, Carl Lawson, Trey Hendrickson, Leonard Williams and Haason Reddick to replace Olivier Vernon, who finished last season with nine sacks before a had split Achilles tendon in the final season.
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