Thought it worthy of its own thread.  Watt has been released.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30886997/houston-texans-part-ways-jj-watt-asks-release

He is going to get a lot of interest. His wife plays professional soccer in Chicago. Mack and Watt on the Edge? That would be insane. Another option is trading Mack and signing Watt, which is pretty wild, but not out of the realm of possible. 

This fits perfectly into my "go hard on defense to save their jobs"-approach that Pace and Nagy would be smart to take.

• ----------Watt     Goldman     Hicks----------
• --Mack-----Smith-----Trevathan-----Quinn--

That would be a front seven that transforms the team's chances at victory. That would be a front seven that should dominate, time of possession, provide interception opportunities for the secondary, terrorize quarterbacks, and minimize the pressure on the offense. With that front seven, the Bears wouldn't need more than 20 or so points a game to win, and potentially be Super Bowl contenders.

 

2 hours ago, adam said:

He is going to get a lot of interest. His wife plays professional soccer in Chicago. Mack and Watt on the Edge? That would be insane. Another option is trading Mack and signing Watt, which is pretty wild, but not out of the realm of possible. 

No chance they could shitcan Quinn?  It looks like his top 5 “possibles” don’t include Chicago.  But TB, GB Pittsburgh are among the possibilities.  GB only because he went to school in Wisconsin and Pittsburgh because both his brothers are currently there.   

21 minutes ago, jason said:

This fits perfectly into my "go hard on defense to save their jobs"-approach that Pace and Nagy would be smart to take.

Even though he hasn't been successful - yet, we need to get pseudo-GM Corradelle Patterson on the phone.  

34 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Even though he hasn't been successful - yet, we need to get pseudo-GM Corradelle Patterson on the phone.  

He is 6 hours ahead of you:

 

 

8 minutes ago, adam said:

He is 6 hours ahead of you:

 

 

HAHAHA! YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!

I'm so tired of just getting retread old players on short contracts.  Build thru the draft.  In the last 50 years what players have we gotten from the free agent heap that has won us anything?  Even Mack has given us just one year of great play.  Please stop and start building our own future HOF or great players thru the draft not rejects off of other teams.  If pace would try and have an 82-3-4 draft class instead of getting an overpriced vet like Quinn. Mack,  and just build thru the draft.

 

Just not going to happen everyone wants the latest and greatest.  Let's get this fixed today.  TB won it all with just one player right? 

I love JJ Watt.  That being said, he is not near the player he used to be.  I would love to see him in a Bear uniform, but only at a Bear price.

17 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

I love JJ Watt.  That being said, he is not near the player he used to be.  I would love to see him in a Bear uniform, but only at a Bear price.

well said, he is not what he once was.

The only way he comes here is if we pay him. He has a lot attention and that will drive the price up. His age and injuries put him in risky situation. I can see him go to TB on a 1 year- 6-8 mil deal. 

On 2/12/2021 at 9:24 PM, Mongo3451 said:

I love JJ Watt.  That being said, he is not near the player he used to be.  I would love to see him in a Bear uniform, but only at a Bear price.

I hate to use PFF, but the numbers are accurate in terms of QB pressures, hits, sacks. Outside of injuries in 2016 and 2017, he has still been a dominant player:

 

Watt, Mack, and Hicks alone would be an incredibly dominant front 7. When you throw in Goldman, Smith, and Trevathan, you have arguably the best front-7 in the league. Then you have Jackson, Fuller, and Johnson in the secondary. That is one or two players away from being the best defense in the league. If you get league-average production from the other safety and nickel corner position, this is easily a top 5 unit.

I would live to have Watt on the Bears! Been a while since we had a #99 that wreaked havoc on QB's!

At this point in his career he's more of a situational player than an every down kind of player.  If we can get him without spending too much, and are able to maximize his time in the rotation I'd be for it.  I just don't want to see us pay him for his past production when he's clearly not the same player he was in his prime.  Doesn't mean he can't be effective if used correctly.  I'm not a huge fan of bringing in guys at the tail end of their career which often doesn't live up to expectations. 

I agree he will be a situational pass rusher but how much is that worth? 3-4 mil? He will get paid somewhere else.  I'm not sure why but the disappointment which is Quinn, I'm thinking he has a bounce back year. For some reason,  players never do what you expect them to do but when you expect nothing they surprise you. 

Looks like Watt signed with the Cards for $15M a year for two years. That was way too rich for the Bears. 

The one thing that may help the Bears related to that signing is Wilson has more of a reason to leave the NFC West, now having to deal with Donald, Bosa, and now Jones/Watt 6 games a year. 

1 hour ago, adam said:

Looks like Watt signed with the Cards for $15M a year for two years. That was way too rich for the Bears. 

The one thing that may help the Bears related to that signing is Wilson has more of a reason to leave the NFC West, now having to deal with Donald, Bosa, and now Jones/Watt 6 games a year. 

In listening to various sports radio takes on this it sounds despite his addition Arizona is still predicted to be ‘fourth in the NFC West’.  I’m guessing he’ll be more situational / rotational than a regular starter.  You’re right, his price was way too steep for what Chicago needs.