Chicago Bears Rumors: Bears among top-five teams to land J.J. Watt

The Chicago Bears have key priorities this offseason, but J.J. Watt could have thrown a wrench into those with his requested release.

Friday morning, it was announced that the Houston Texans would grant Watt his release after the star defensive end had conversed with the front office and ownership. After 10 seasons with the Texans, racking up 101.0 career sacks. Watt will be searching for a new team.

The Texans’ organization has gone through a mess of issues over the past year. Former head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien was fired after he had done enough damage to the team, but the negativity ran deeper.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson has had issues with the front office not wanting to understand his desires, points of view and wishes in regards to the team and, quite frankly, society in general. Even Watson wants out of Houston — and maybe he’ll follow Watt out the door via trade in the coming weeks.

For now, it’s all about where Watt will play next. There has already been plenty of chatter, whispers and recruiting from fellow NFL players. PointsBet has given the sports world some intriguing numbers when it comes to Watt’s next team, and Chicago Bears fans may want to pay attention.

https://twitter.com/pointsbetusa/status/1360267048111099907?s=21

While it doesn’t seem likely that the Chicago Bears would go after Watt due to their needs at quarterback, offensive line, among others, adding Watt would certainly be a headline. The question is, would he take less money to come to Chicago?

One advantage the Chicago Bears have going for them is that Watt loves the city of Chicago. He’s said that multiple times. But, that’s easy to say when the food is good and his wife plays soccer for the Chicago Red Stars.

Chicago wouldn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities simply based on the fact that he’d be able to be around his wife more often, but his next team represents more than being just close to home.

For him, it seems like it’s completely about winning at this stage in his career. He pleaded publicly with his teammates to work harder, play harder and care about the game they’re engaged in each week. Watt has been vocal and visibly frustrated with being part of a losing team.

Does he think Chicago would be any different? The Bears are a team caught up in mediocrity for the past couple of seasons, and unless they figure out the quarterback position, that likely will not change.

So, if Watt indeed chooses the Chicago Bears, he may know something we do not. The fact of the matter is, Watt makes the Bears defense arguably the scariest in the NFL, but if they don’t have a competent quarterback, the team isn’t putting points on the board — period.