LA Rams rival Cardinals signing JJ Watt to boost run defense

The LA Rams seem to be influencing the decisions of their NFC West rivals. The Arizona Cardinals were unable to do it offensively in 2020, so is the secret to doing so defensively? Despite the belief of the Arizona Cardinals knocking on the door to the NFL Playoffs in 2020, they failed to do so.  To add insult to injury, they lost for the second time in the season to the LA Rams, a team that was facing them without starting quarterback Jared Goff.

It was backup quarterback John Wolford’s first NFL game. It was also John Wolford’s first NFL win.

Want to know how frustrating the loss for the second time to the LA Rams was to division rivals last year? The Seattle Seahawks lost for the second time in the wild card round and immediately fired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. In fact, the aftershocks of that loss are still being felt in Seattle, as quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked 16 times by the LA Rams last year.

16 times.  For comparison purposes, LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff was sacked 29 times in 18 games, both in the regular season. No wonder the  Seahawks quarterback demanded the team improve pass protection.

The Arizona Cardinals lost both games to the LA Rams as well.

Cardinals follow LA Rams to mega wager tables in signing J.J. Watt

The Cardinals were not a horrible team.  In fact, the Arizona Cardinals ended the season with the 13th best scoring offense and the 13th stingiest scoring defense in the NFL in 2020. While the Cardinals had a solid pass rush, they struggled to contain runners with their undersized defenders.
The Cardinals could only must the 23rd-ranked rush defense in the NFL in 2020.

Well, the Cardinals just got bigger and tougher against the run. Much tougher on paper, to be honest.

So how are the Cardinals able to afford that? Well, we talked about that at length in our last NFC West Walkabout. They had the money to throw at Watt, obviously. But does this mean that they will not pursue re-signing CB Patrick Peterson in free agency? The Cardinals have 29 players hitting free agency this year. And they just signed a big one.

For what it’s worth, the fact that the Texans outright released Watt does ensure that this signing will not impact their calculations for compensatory pick awards.

But this signing does not come without high risks and high rewards. The 2021 NFL Draft is light on the defensive line of scrimmage folks, so the Arizona Cardinals addressed their need to get tough ‘up front’ by signing Watt. But that is a lot of money to pour into one player. Can the Cardinals afford to re-sign CB Patrick Peterson, OLB Markus Golden, OLB Hasson Reddick, RB Kenyan Drake, or even venerable WR Larry Fitzgerald?

Perhaps.

After the LA Rams added strong-armed veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Arizona Cardinals have now countered by adding strong-man defensive end, J.J. Watt.  The NFC West arms race has picked up where it left off in 2020. Free agency has not even begun, and the NFC West has already splashed national NFL headlines twice.

This is going to be a wild ride.