Some news and notes for this morning:<\/p>\n
1) Peter King reported on Monday that the league going to a 17-game schedule is “highly likely” in 2021<\/strong><\/a>, which he points out sets the stage to add the Dallas Cowboys to the Patriots list of opponents next season at Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n Should that happen, King reports it pushes the league calendar back one week, setting up a February 13th Super Bowl in Los Angeles.\u00a0 They haven’t made the news official yet as Super Bowl LVI remains scheduled for February 6, 2022, but King doesn’t believe that the start date of the season will change, so he believes the championship game will likely be the domino that falls.<\/p>\n However, the bad news is there apparently won’t be an extra bye week, with the NFL essentially playing 17 games in 18 weekends.\u00a0 That’s likely not sitting well with the players and for the fans, it remains a frustrating situation as most have been clamoring for years for the league to move the game to President’s Day weekend, which would at least see people be able to enjoy the game and have the ensuing Monday off.\u00a0 Adding another bye week would make that a possibility, as the holiday always falls on the third Monday of February.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the league doesn’t care what the fans or even its own players think and as it currently stands, it appears they finally got their wish as another meaningful game will be played next season and moving forward.<\/p>\n 2) It didn’t take J.J. Watt much time to find a new home.\u00a0 Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Monday that the former Texans defensive end agreed to a two-year contract<\/strong> <\/a>with the Arizona Cardinals worth a reported $31 million, $23 million of which was guaranteed.<\/p>\n What was interesting was the fact that the Patriots were apparently in the mix at one point. The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported that the Patriots inquired on Watt while he was exploring his options<\/a><\/strong>, but it never got anywhere due to his high price tag.<\/p>\n Bill Belichick has always had high-praise for the veteran defensive end, but he’s one of the few coaches who has done a good job of making Watt irrelevant during their meetings, with last year being the exception. Watt had one of his biggest games ever against the Patriots in 2020, including three pass deflections along with a tackle for a loss. The deflections were frustrating because it came against the 6’5″ Cam Newton, who as we know dealt with that problem all year due to his ridiculously low release point.<\/p>\n Watt didn’t waste much time, showing a picture of himself in Cardinals gear on Twitter at the facility already hard at work.<\/p>\n source: me. pic.twitter.com\/1Y6okQBUy5<\/a><\/p>\n — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n