J.J. Watt will not be coming out of retirement to join the Cincinnati Bengals after James Trafford's string of clean sheets comes to an end.

The Cincinnati Bengals lost veteran defensive end Sam Hubbard to retirement on Wednesday morning, a day after their hopes of luring J.J. Watt out of retirement came to an end. The story of Watt potentially unretiring to join the Bengals is quite interesting, though, and involves English soccer team Burnley F.C., which Watt owns a stake in.

J.J. Watt will not be making an NFL return to play for the Bengals this fall. Watt is a part owner of the Burnley English soccer club and his goalkeeper, James Trafford, wanted him on the Bengals. The former NFL All-Pro defensive end and three-time Defensive Player of the Year joked about the possibility of ending his retirement and playing for Cincinnati if Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford held up his end of a bet to not allow any goals for the rest of the English League Championship season.

NFL free agency officially starts on Wednesday but many teams around the league have been busy over the weekend making deals with their current players, including the Cleveland Browns, who stunned the NFL world by signing Myles Garrett to a historic extension on Sunday.

J.J. Watt isn't backing down from his friendly wager that could force him out of retirement to join the Cincinnati Bengals. For those out of the loop, Watt, a partial owner of Burnley F.C., agreed to

Former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt insists he was prepared to come out of retirement next season if he lost the friendly wager he made with Burnley FC goalkeeper James Trafford.Watt, who owns a minority stake in the English club,

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J.J. Watt isn’t backing down from a bet he made with Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, even if the NFL legend has to come out of retirement.

Copyright © 2025 Bleacher Report, Inc. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Burnley partial owner's joking wager with goalkeeper James Trafford ended Tuesday, but only after an impressive two-month run.

Former Wisconsin Badgers star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt sent a stern warning to the Cowboys and the Bengals alike on how to handle the extension-eligible superstars on their respective rosters as free agency nears its launch.