J.J. Watt has made it known that he is only a phone call away from returning to the NFL, but only if needed.
On Saturday at his charity softball game, Watt, who just finished his first season of retirement, said he told Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans that he would be ready if the head coach needs him in the upcoming season.
It’s apparently not the first time he has extended the offer, either.
“I’ve had 12 great years in this league and I’m very thankful to have walked away healthy and playing great,” he said, according to sports radio broadcaster Brandon Scott of Audacity Sports. “I told DeMeco last year, I said, ‘Don’t call unless you absolutely need it, but if you ever do call, I’ll be there.’ And he knows not to call unless he absolutely needs it. This is the last year I’ll tell him that, because I’m not going to keep training the way I’ve been training, but he knows that if he ever truly does need it, I’ll be there for him. I don’t anticipate that happening — they’ve got a very good group.”
The revealing comments come only days after Texans general manager Nick Caserio made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” where McAfee asked him about a potential return from Watt on Thursday.
Caserio didn’t shut down the idea.
“I’m not going to speak for him about what he wants to do relative to playing football, I’ll let him disclose that on your show,” he said Thursday. “It’s very early, it’s May, the season doesn’t start until September and then you’ll look at players the end of October, November, case by case. Between him and [Tom] Brady, we’ll see who jumps back in first.”
Brady, who is currently set to be in Fox’s No. 1 NFL booth this year, teased a potential comeback recently.
Watt, 35, has previously not denied the possibility of coming out of retirement on McAfee’s show last fall, when McAfee pressed him about the appeal of the Steelers, especially with his brother TJ Watt there.
The former star defensive end played with the Texans for 10 seasons (2011 to 2020) where he earned three Defensive Player of the Year awards along with five Pro Bowl nods and five All-Pro awards.
He finished up his career with Arizona in the 2021 and ’22 seasons.
