JJ Watt walked into Green Bay Packers training camp this week, and for a few minutes, panic set in among Packers fans hoping for one more run. He didn’t come to sign a contract. He came to scout the building for a very different job.
Watt was on hand at Ray Nitschke Field as the Packers worked through practice, according to ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, who quickly shut down any unretirement speculation. Demovsky posted on X: “JJ Watt taking in Packers practice today. No, he’s not coming out of retirement. He is expected to be on the CBS broadcast Week 1 at Minnesota.”
J.J. Watt taking in Packers practice today.
No, he’s not coming out of retirement. He is expected to be on the CBS broadcast Week 1 at Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/TIxiiwgqVf
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 6, 2026
Watt hasn’t played an NFL snap since the 2022-23 season, when he retired after a decorated career split between the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. A five-time First-Team All-Pro and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Watt is widely expected to land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he’s eligible. These days, his workplace is a broadcast booth, not a defensive line.
Watt’s CBS Role Just Got Bigger
The Packers-Vikings tie-in matters more now than it did even a week ago. Watt was already booked to call games with play-by-play voice Ian Eagle on CBS’s No. 2 broadcast crew this season. But that assignment changed after Tony Romo, CBS’s lead NFL analyst since 2017, was arrested in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. CBS Sports placed Romo on leave “until further notice,” and the network said Watt will step in alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson as its lead NFL team while Romo is out, according to the Associated Press.
That elevation is why a Packers practice field matters for a broadcaster. Getting eyes on Jordan Love’s revamped receiver room and the Green Bay defense in person, ahead of a Week 1 assignment that could carry extra weight, is standard prep work for an analyst stepping into a bigger chair. CBS hasn’t released its full Week 1 game-by-game announcer lineup for 2026, so it isn’t officially confirmed which matchup Watt and Nantz will call — but Demovsky’s reporting has Watt penciled in for the Vikings-Packers opener specifically.
None of this is coming from Green Bay’s building. It’s Watt doing his job as a broadcaster, not the Packers or the league making any kind of announcement.
No, Watt and Parsons Won’t Be Sharing a Field
It’s easy to see why the sight of Watt in Packers gear sent a jolt through the fan base. Green Bay has been buzzing about its defense this camp, and pairing a healthy, motivated Watt with Micah Parsons off the edge is the kind of thing that lives rent-free in a fan’s imagination. It’s not happening. Watt has stayed retired, and there’s been no indication from him, the Packers, or CBS that any of that changes.
Green Bay is coming off a first-round playoff exit, eliminated by the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round last season. The front office responded by reshaping the receiver room this offseason, aiming to give quarterback Jordan Love a clearer pecking order heading into his fourth year as the starter. Whether that group, plus a defense working through new coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s scheme, is enough to get past last year’s early exit is the question hanging over the rest of camp.
Fans get their first live look at the results on Thursday, August 13, when the Packers host the Pittsburgh Steelers in their preseason opener.
