Report: Browns didn’t offer J.J. Watt more than Cardinals

[Chomps]

Getty Images

An Arizona radio station on Monday suggested the Browns and Colts offered more money to J.J. Watt, and the Titans’ offer was “very similar.” Other reporters since have debunked the report.

Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports the Browns did not offer Watt more than the two-year, $31 million deal Watt agreed to with the Cardinals.

“The Browns likely offered something in the $12 million-a-year range, which is consistent with what they’ve paid other older veterans over the past couple of years, including Olivier Vernon,” Cabot writes. That follows what Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported: Other teams besides the Cardinals were trying to get Watt for roughly $12 million per year.

It appears the Cardinals made the highest offer, and Watt took the highest offer. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But it is hard to argue the Cardinals are more of a Super Bowl contender than the other teams who were trying to sign Watt. The Browns, Colts and Titans made the postseason in 2020. The Cardinals were 8-8 and have not made the playoffs since 2015 when Bruce Arians was the team’s coach and Carson Palmer the quarterback.