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With no passes to catch in February, DeAndre Hopkins and Juju Smith-Schuster are throwing Hail Marys.
Two of the NFL’s prime receivers made public pitches Tuesday to free-agent pass-rusher J.J. Watt to hitch their groups. Watt is eligible to signal with a crew instantly, after he asked for and was given his release last week by the Texans.
It began with Hopkins publishing on Instagram a photograph of Watt bringing him in for a hug through the seven years once they had been Texans teammates, edited to be in Cardinals uniforms. The caption reads, “Let’s end what we began …”
Hopkins was traded to the Cardinals last offseason, when the Texans started breaking down the nucleus of a crew that couldn’t get previous the second spherical of the playoffs. Aided by a monster season from Hopkins, the Cardinals had been within the playoff hunt till the ultimate week of the common season. One in all their wants is a pass-rusher who can line up reverse Chandler Jones.
Not be outdone, Smith-Schuster commented on Hopkins’ message, making an attempt to lure Watt to the Steelers.
Smith-Schuster used 5 laughing face emojis and wrote, “come play along with your brothers lol.” Watt’s two youthful brothers, T.J. and Derek, are Steelers teammates. However he is likely to be extra focused on going through his brothers as a member of the rival Browns, based on a report.
The subtext there may be that Smith-Schuster apparently expects to stay with the Steelers. He’s set to change into a free agent in March and may very well be the highest receiver obtainable if Allen Robinson, Kenny Golladay and Chris Godwin all are franchise-tagged.
Hopkins’ message drew reactions from different NFL gamers, like Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons utilizing the wide-eyes emoji and 49ers tight finish George Kittle – who might need to dam Watt in two video games per yr as NFC West rivals – suggesting “Hey loosen up man.”
In the meantime, Titans common supervisor Jon Robinson instructed reporters Tuesday the crew has had contact with Watt.
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