The #AZCardinals are giving JJ Watt a 2-year deal worth $31M with $23M guaranteed, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2021
NFL free agency is still weeks away, but the Arizona Cardinals struck the first significant signing of the new season, inking defensive end J.J. Watt to a 2-year, $31 million contract, with $23 million guaranteed. The $15 million amount per year average is $2.5 million less than what Watt, who was released by the Texans earlier this month, was scheduled to make in what was the final year of his previous contract.
The structure of the deal is necessary to determine what the Cardinals’ cap responsibility will be for the 2021 season, but with the league year starting at 4 p.m. ET March 17, and teams needing to be under a cap number that hasn’t yet been established (it will be no lower than $180 million), Arizona has plenty of time to make any necessary moves to build their roster for the season.
The $23 million guaranteed part of the reported deal will be the most important. That figure is likely to be mostly in the form of a signing bonus, and prorated over the two years of the deal. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Cardinals guaranteed all of Watt’s salary for this season, and the veteran minimum for a player at his level of tenure is $1.075 million. A signing bonus of, say, $20 million (probably a bit higher than what it will be), spread over two years, combined with that proposed base salary would be $11.075 million. That would represent a large chunk of the Cardinals’ cap space heading into free agency, and before any other moves would be made.
That’s probably the most extreme example of the structure of the deal, but a reasonable assumption to what his year 1 cap number would be. It’s an excellent deal however we’d slice it, considering the value of the player the Cardinals are acquiring, and much better it makes the team’s growing defense.