Ravens lose out on J.J. Watt sweepstakes as he agrees to deal with Cardinals

When the Houston Texans released elite EDGE defender J.J. Watt, seemingly everyone was on social media recruiting him to come to their favorite team. Unfortunately for the fans of 31 NFL franchises, Watt has found a new home, agreeing to a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Baltimore Ravens were never among the top teams mentioned in connection with Watt this offseason. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t paying close attention to where he eventually signed, especially with the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and Oakland Raiders among the teams showing interest in Watt, according to ESPN’s John Clayton.

The Ravens already have to battle the Browns twice a year since they’re in the same division, and with both Cleveland and Buffalo in the playoffs last season, Baltimore was looking at potentially playing Watt quite a bit in 2021. Considering the Ravens’ offensive line is in shambles currently and tackle Orlando Brown Jr. wants to be traded, the idea of going up against Watt as many as three times a season sounds awful.

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Watt’s deal also helps Baltimore in a different fashion, setting the market for top pass rushers. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Arizona is set to pay Watt $31 million over two years, with $23 million guaranteed. If Watt represents the top of the market for free-agent pass rushers, that means the Ravens might be able to retain Yannick Ngakoue or Matthew Judon, or sign another free agent, for a reasonable price.

Baltimore isn’t set to face Arizona in 2021, meaning if they did have to gameplan for Watt, they’d be doing it for Super Bowl LVI.

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