The Cardinals found out that J.J. Watt was retiring at exactly the same time the rest of us did.
Coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters on Wednesday that the team had “no idea” Watt would be announcing his retirement when he did it.
It’s unclear why Watt didn’t bother to share the information with his current employer before telling the world. His contract expires after the season, so it’s not as if he’s walking away with time left on his deal.
Maybe Watt simply didn’t trust the Cardinals to keep it quiet. When Watt deliberately announced that he’d had an issue with his heart, he did it because someone had said something to someone in the media about it, forcing his hand.
Regardless, the Cardinals didn’t know it was coming. Which is definitely a little weird.