A JJ Watt comeback with the Cincinnati Bengals would be an incredible and improbable story this offseason. But the way it could happen makes it all the more amazing.
It was several weeks ago that Watt, who is also part owner of Burnley in English soccer’s second tier, made a bet with his goalkeeper James Trafford that he would come out of retirement and play for the Cincinnati Bengals if he did not allow a goal for the rest of the season.
All Trafford and Burnley have done since Watt made his bet with Trafford is keep 12 consecutive clean sheets since then.
This is starting to become a bit of a concern… pic.twitter.com/MrOdjRz2En
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 18, 2025
Watt has played up not only his goalkeeper’s incredible streak (which is good enough for the second longest clean sheet streak in the history of English soccer) but also the chances that he would indeed be forced out of retirement to play with the Bengals.
Didn’t think we’d make it this far… pic.twitter.com/vvzXbbolfK
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 22, 2025
In an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Watt committed to holding up his end of the bargain if James Trafford and Burnley keep doing the impossible.
.@JJWatt says he’ll absolutely follow through with his bet to come out of retirement and play for the #Bengals if James Trafford doesn’t allow another goal for the rest of the season.
The only question? Would the Bengals even want him? 👀
Care to comment, @Bengals? pic.twitter.com/pyScfyb98u
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 25, 2025
“I messaged him and I said, ‘you’re really taking this serious, huh?’ And he was like, ‘I really want you to play for the Bengals. So two games later, two more games with no goals. I messaged him back and was like, ‘it’s getting a little ridiculous now, do you think you can make it the whole way?’ He goes, ‘how do you think you eat a whale? One bite at a time,” Watt relayed.
“It’s getting pretty serious. We’ve created a lot of Claret fans in Cincinnati, Ohio which is really cool. We’re getting a lot bigger ratings and numbers from the Ohio region so it’s been really fun,” he said.
“I’ll do it. If he does that, which is insane, there’s what 12, 13 games left? If he does it, it’s insane enough and respectful enough that I will absolutely follow through. I’ll go out there. Who knows if they even want me? I don’t even know. I haven’t talked to them. But I’m in shape, I can go play,” Watt continued.
The biggest mystery may be how Trafford and other Burnley teammates became fans of the Bengals in the first place, which Watt promised to try to get to the bottom of. But whatever the case may be, the connection between Burnley, Watt, and the Bengals is proving to pay dividends. Burnley sit third in the EFL Championship standings, just two points outside of a top two spot that will earn them automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
When Dan Patrick asked JJ Watt about any kind of contractual obligations and if he could technically come back with the Bengals, Watt admitted that he never filed any kind of retirement paperwork with the NFL. If anything, the biggest obstacle (outside of Burnley doing the impossible) would be if the Cincinnati Bengals would actually want to bring him aboard. And given their history of contract negotiations with star players, that may be the biggest hurdle of all.
