It was speculated all season.
Ever since the Houston Texans started to win games under new head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud started to prove himself as one of the league’s premier players there was an overarching question that couldn’t be helped as a former Texans legend sang his praise of the new team.
Was there any chance J.J. Watt would unretire and play for Ryans?
Watt was openly working out at the facility and would admit as much when he talked about Houston’s success weekly on the Pat McAfee show. Houston had a dire need for a third pass rusher, one they eventually found in Derek Barnett, and the fit seemed logical once the Texans were playoff bound.
It turns out, fans weren’t too far off from their hopes according to Watt himself on the Pat McAfee show this week.
"I absolutely am retired and I'm 1,000% done..
I definitely was monitoring the Texans and Steelers situations this year but nothing ever escalated" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLiVe pic.twitter.com/tmEfPsXIIX
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 7, 2024
“Halfway through this last season, I definitely was monitoring the Steelers and Texans situations but it never escalated into any sort of actual potential,” Watt said.
He added: “I’m very pleased with the way things went. If it was something where I could have brought something that propelled someone to a potential Super Bowl, fill in a need to take them to a new level. Just to do it would have been ridiculous.”
It sounds like Watt would have only truly considered it if he could have played with his brothers or if the Texans had been clear Super Bowl contender rather than a plucky underdog in the playoffs.
Still, it’s interesting to hear the future Hall of Famer and future Texans Ring of Honor player admit that it was under consideration during the year.
Houston will have to find other ways to boost their pass rush moving forward. Breakout player Jonathan Greenard is an unrestricted free agent as well as midseason addition Derek Barnett. Their ability to pair another player with young star Will Anderson will be one to monitor as Ryans looks to assemble a Super Bowl-caliber defense.