J.J. Watt compares Bill Belichick to Ravens' Lamar Jackson

Future Hall of Famer and current CBS Sports NFL analyst J.J. Watt recently told The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin (h/t NESN) how former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick may eventually have something in common with Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson. 

"Last year teams came out and openly said, 'We’re not interested, we’re not interested,'" Watt explained. "Now, just about every single one of those teams probably should have been interested in Lamar Jackson. I do wonder if a year from now, we’re going to be looking back and saying, 'Hey, you might have wanted to take a look at Bill Belichick.'" 

After Baltimore retained Jackson's rights for 2023 via the non-exclusive franchise tag, the Patriots, Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons were among the clubs that passed on attempting to acquire the 27-year-old. Jackson ultimately signed a five-year contract reportedly worth up to $260M with $185M guaranteed to stay with the Ravens, and the Pro Football Writers of America voted him their Most Valuable Player for the 2023 season last month. 

Jackson is expected to become a two-time winner of The Associated Press' MVP Award during the "NFL Honors" ceremony held on Thursday night. 

The Falcons and Commanders had head coaching vacancies when Belichick became available in January, but neither hired the living legend who turns 72 years old this April. It appears Belichick will remain a free agent through 2024. 

"I think the age thing is more of — if you’re going to use that argument — it’s more of owners saying, 'I want to find my head coach for the next 15-20 years,' as opposed to saying what Bill can do right now," Watt added. 

NFL and Patriots insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated previously suggested that the Falcons were worried they might get only "two years of Belichick," especially if the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach earned the 15 wins he needs to set a new NFL record for career victories (regular season and postseason combined). Earlier this week, Hall of Fame head coach and CBS personality Bill Cowher noted that the NFL is "a young man's game." 

It's been rumored among those covering Super Bowl LVIII that Belichick turned Atlanta down and will instead wait for an alleged better job to open up next offseason. If that information is false and Falcons owner Arthur Blank went in a different direction with the hiring of Raheem Morris, Blank may live to regret that choice depending on what Belichick decides to do in January 2025.