SF 49ers news: Don’t expect J.J. Watt to join San Francisco

The Texans released veteran star J.J. Watt on Friday, but the SF 49ers aren’t likely to be players for the 32-year-old defender’s services.

It’s more of a surprise because it’s hard to envision five-time first-team All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt playing anywhere else but with the Houston Texans.

But after Watt made it pretty clear earlier this offseason he wanted a fresh start somewhere else, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reporting the Texans were releasing Watt for him to hit the free-agent market immediately wasn’t too big a shocker.

Almost immediately, the thought of the 32-year-old Watt joining the SF 49ers became enticing.

It probably won’t happen, though. So don’t get your hopes up.

True, the Niners are closer to winning a Super Bowl than the Texans. And one has to figure that’ll factor into Watt’s decision where he wants to go to next. And he does have a connection with San Francisco’s new defensive coordinator, DeMeco Ryans. After all, the two played together in Houston back in 2011, Ryans’ last year with the Texans and Watt’s first in the NFL.

Yet even if cap space and contract numbers weren’t an issue (they will be), it doesn’t seem likely Watt and the SF 49ers would entertain a partnership.

Watt is a more traditional 3-4 defensive end, and at his current age, he doesn’t fit the bill of a speed rusher in a Wide 9 4-3 format. While the Niners do have a need to grab a pass-rusher who can either replace or at least serve as insurance for oft-injured EDGE Dee Ford in 2021 and beyond, Watt is far from a perfect scheme fit. While good players are often moldable and can adjust their skill set to many a different scheme, it’s just a little too far-fetched to think San Francisco would take a flier on an aging veteran at this stage in his career.

Especially with Watt’s history of injuries, which have included missing the bulk of the 2016 and 2017 seasons and half of 2019.

The SF 49ers made it clear this offseason, in the wake of their own rash of injuries last year, they’d take into consideration players’ injury histories when it came to attacking their offseason plans.

J.J. Watt probably wouldn’t pick SF 49ers anyway

There are some other X-factors at play in terms of Watt looking for a new employer this offseason.

Yes, good Super Bowl chances are in the mix, and Watt will want to be offered fair compensation. But scheme fit will be important, and one has to figure both comfort and familiarity will be important, too.

One might figure the Pittsburgh Steelers would be a preferred destination for Watt. After all, his two brothers, EDGE T.J. Watt and fullback Derek Watt, are both in Pittsburgh now and under contract through 2021. Yes, the Steelers are well over the projected 2021 salary cap. But there’s plenty of smoke quarterback Ben Roethlisberger could retire this offseason, which would free up a significant amount of cap space to make a deal for J.J. Watt more plausible.

Plenty of other teams with playoff hopes and better cap situations could be in the mix, too, further pushing the SF 49ers away from the likelihood of landing him.

The thought of Watt donning red and gold is enticing. But the cold reality is it doesn’t look like a natural fit, and he’ll probably want to land elsewhere in 2021 anyway.