With stellar defensive display, Cardinals’ game-long snooze, 49ers play spoilers in Arizona

J.J. Watt is heading to the NFC West. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the former Houston Texans defensive end is signing a two-year, $31 million with $23 million guaranteed with the Arizona Cardinals. The #AZCardinals are giving JJ Watt a 2-year deal worth $31M with $23M guaranteed, source said.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1,

NBC Sports' Peter King offered some scheduling insight into what will likely be a 17-game season in 2021. The NFL continues negotiations with broadcast partners on a new television deal, and the networks and league are working on the assumption that the regular season will increase by one game. Until now, there has been speculation on where those 17th games will take place. We already knew that each NFC West team would be matched up against the AFC North opponent with the same spot in its standings from this past season. That means the San Francisco 49ers taking on the last-place Cincinnati Bengals in 2021. King is hearing that the AFC will be hosting all 16 of the

San Francisco 49ers VP of player personnel Adam Peters recently spoke with Matt Barrows of The Athletic. He was asked about the team's presence in South Carolina to watch Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Niners own the No. 12 overall pick in the upcoming draft, and Lawrence is expected to be the top selection, going to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yet, San Francisco was among 17 teams in attendance to watch Lawrence. Peters reminds everyone that there were other players there. For example, one of the receivers that Lawrence was throwing to during the workout was Cornell Powell, who caught 53 passes for 882 yards and seven touchdowns for the Tigers last season. The

NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah had the San Francisco 49ers selecting former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts in his first mock draft, released last month. In his latest mock draft for NFL.com, the draft analyst has John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan bolstering their offensive line, adding former Northwestern offensive tackle Rashawn Slater. Offensive tackle Trent Williams is scheduled to become a free agent next month and will require a hefty annual salary to stay with San Francisco. He's worth it, though.