Texans legend J. J. Watt leaves door open for unretirement, but there's a catch

J. J. Watt is happily retired, and he would rather it keep that way. That is, unless another Houston Texans legend, coach DeMeco Ryans, cames calling.

At his annual charity softball game in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land on Saturday, the legendary defensive end said:

"I had 12 great years in this league and I'm very thankful to walk away healthy. I told (Texans head coach) DeMeco (Ryans) last year. I said, 'Don't call unless you absolutely need it. But if you ever do call I'll be there.' This is the last year I'll tell him that, because I'm not gonna keep training the way I've been training."

This is not the first time he has addressed these rumors, but in February, Watt revealed on The Pat McAfee Show that, besides the Texans, he had also been "monitoring" the Pittsburgh Steelers, where his younger brothers Derek and TJ played. However, in his words, "it never escalated to any sort of actual potential."

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Texans GM discusses potential J. J. Watt comeback

As it turns out, there's another person who's enthusiastic about a J. J. Watt return - other than J. J. Watt himself and DeMeco Ryans: Nick Caserio.

The Texans general manager made a masterstroke in the 2023 NFL Draft when he traded up with the Arizona Cardinals to select Will Anderson Jr., who immediately broke out to become the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

However, with the team looking to build on its recent successes and finally reach the AFC Championship Game, will regaining a legend of the game be worth it for him?

On Thursday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Caserio said:

“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 …

"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 Brady, we’ll see who jumps back in first.”

Off the field, Watt is happily married to former soccer player Kealia (nee Ohai) and has a son with her. He's also an analyst at CBS, a minority owner of English soccer club Burnley, and an executive at Houston-based electricity company Reliant.