After spending the first three seasons of his NFL career in what he saw as a hopeless situation with the Buffalo Bills, Sammy Watkins said he had no interest in leaving what he sees as an ideal situation with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Very important to stay,” said Watkins, the wide receiver who could have forced his way out of the final year of his contract by refusing a reduced salary. “For what we did when we won the Super Bowl and the type of team and coaches we have, the organization, why should I not stay? I’m a man who’s been in the league seven years, and i have been on teams that were not so good and did not win.
“We have a well-equipped quarterback, a well-established team, coaches, organization. The real fun is in winning more than anything.”
Watkins agreed to a restructured deal that would pay him $ 9 million, down from an original $ 14 million.
“I think I made enough money,” Watkins said. “I would like to keep more money, but for as much as smart and [staying] on this team, knowing you have to pay Pat [Mahomes], you have to pay Chris [Jones], there are a lot of guys you have to pay. So for me to take a contract like I did was a blessing. … This is my lucky spot, so why not take out a smaller contract and go out and play with the guys I’ve played with? “
Watkins has been the Chiefs’ third leading receiver in each of his two seasons in Kansas City behind Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. He had said he was ready to accept such a role as long as the Chiefs won.
But he seemed to indicate in the offseason that his attitude had changed when he told Bleacher Report that he would turn things around in “World War III” if he did not get the ball this season.
Watkins supported that remark Sunday.
“I’m over that. … I just want to go back to football,” he said. “Every receiver, every player wants to go out and do good and score touchdowns or catch as many balls as you can and get the yards. I want that kind of thing.
“But that’s not my focus. My focus is to get the win and go out and have fun. The focus is on trying to win games. If we can win games and the Super Bowl and I can get 1000 yards, “That would be great. You have to be realistic with yourself and say we have seven superstars for one crime.”
Watkins’ last catch of the 2019 season was his most important since joining the Chiefs. He defeated Richard Sherman for a 38-yard win in the fourth quarter to set up the ongoing touchdown in Kansas City’s Super Bowl LIV victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
“No. 1,” Watkins said when asked where that catch ranks in his career. “Just the stage and its timing [catch] and to do it [against] one of the top 10 corners, a Hall of Famer. That’s definitely one for the memory bank.
“I always take that with me.”
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