NFC Notes: Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

New Cardinals’ DE J.J. Watt spoke briefly after arriving in Arizona to join his new team.

“I’m very excited,” Watt said via the Cardinals’ Twitter. “My wife and I are very excited to be here. Mr. Bidwill, Steve [Keim], everybody here, has been unbelievable so far, and I’m just excited to get started. I’m very excited to get started, get to work, get to know the people of Arizona and go to work to try to win a championship. The one thing I can promise you is I’m gonna work my ass off every single day to make you proud. Very proud to be part of the Bird Gang and the Red Sea. So let’s get started.”

• The Cardinals are in a healthy cap situation and according to Albert Breer of SI.com, Arizona signed Watt to a deal that could still allow them to attempt to re-sign OLB Haason Reddick.
• In his introductory press conference, Watt explained the “signs kept pointing back down here” when asked why he surprised many and chose the Cardinals. (Josh Weinfuss)
• He specifically mentioned Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins, a former teammate in Houston, QB Kyler Murray and DC Vance Joseph, who he worked underneath as well in Houston and who runs a similar defensive scheme to what Watt has had success in in the past. (Weinfuss)
• Watt also admitted: “I’m also not going to lie to you. It’s nice when it’s 65 and sunny when I woke up this morning.” (Andrew Siciliano)
• Watt said he would welcome playing whatever position the coaching staff asks him to: “Wherever they want me to line up, I’m very comfortable playing any position. Wherever the coaches want to put me. We’re all very excited about what can happen here.” (Aaron Wilson)
• Florida State CB Asante Samuel Jr. had a virtual meeting with the Cardinals. (Justin Melo)

49ers

49ers’ FB Kyle Juszczyk thinks QB Jimmy Garoppolo is most likely unaffected by all of the rumors surrounding him this offseason.

“I think it would be naive to say that he doesn’t hear any of it, but the guy really doesn’t hear a lot of it,” Juszczyk said, via 49ers Webzone. “He’s not super active on social media. I mean, you’ll see the guy post like once a month on his Instagram, and it’s usually some sort of ad for some high-end car dealership or something. I don’t think he has a Twitter account, and if he does, he’s not very active on it…And I know he keeps things really close in-house. The guy hangs out with his brothers, mostly. Spends a lot of time with his family, just kind of has a tight-knit group of guys, and so he’s not really putting himself out there and letting himself listen to that kind of stuff because I think he knows how toxic it can be, and what it can lead to. You’ve seen in other situations where guys just get hammered down reading negative things about themselves.”

Rams

• ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry says the Rams will closely monitor things with pending free-agent CB Troy Hill in the hopes of bringing him back. 
• Rams safeties Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp are expected to step up with the presumed loss of S John Johnson, with 2020 third-round S Terrell Burgess also waiting in the wings, per Thiry. 
• She also expects 2020 fourth-round TE Brycen Hopkins to replace pending FA TE Gerald Everett.

Seahawks

• Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic thinks that the Seahawks should restructure the contract of QB Russell Wilson, as converting some of his $19 million base salary to a signing bonus can save Seattle around $12 million in cap space.
• Dugar adds that the team needs to restructure the contracts of other veterans such as WR Tyler Lockett, DE Carlos Dunlap, S Jamal Adams, S Quandre Diggs, and LB Bobby Wagner in order to free up around $38 million in cap space.
• According to Dugar, this figure could be pushed up to $50 million if Seattle decides to also extend the contracts of T Duane Brown and DT Jarran Reed.
• Aside from re-signing LB K.J. Wright, Dugar thinks the team could reunite with another veteran from the Legion of Boom era in CB Richard Sherman.
• With RB Chris Carson also in need of a new contract, Dugar thinks that the Seahawks should tell him they are unwilling to pay him over $6.5 million per year, which he will likely decline.
• Dugar outlines several offensive linemen that the Seahawks could chase after this offseason, including G Brandon Scherff, OT Taylor Moton, OT Daryl Williams, G Kevin Zeitler, OT Trent Brown, and G Trai Turner.
• When it comes to money-saving measures, Dugar is hoping that the Seahawks don’t spend big on a veteran tight end such as Zach Ertz, Gerald Everett, Jesse James, Tyler Eifert, or Jonnu Smith.
• In the upcoming draft, Dugar thinks Seattle should trade back for more draft picks and avoid spending their top pick on a running back.