Mathieu: Watt's recruiting impacted decision to play for Texans

Once J.J. Watt heard that Tyrann Mathieu was hitting the market, he wasted no time reaching out to the former Arizona Cardinals defensive back via Twitter in hopes of bringing him to the Houston Texans - and it worked.

Two days after his release, Mathieu reportedly turned down more money from his former team to agree to a one-year contract with the Texans. At his introductory press conference on Monday, he confirmed that the recruiting effort from the All-Pro defensive end had an effect.

"I knew J.J. for a couple of years," Mathieu said, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. "We share the same agent, and we've shared a couple of lunches together. We've been able to communicate via phone, text, social media - things like that."

Mathieu added that both the opportunity to play on a solid defense and a team in the championship hunt were key to picking the Texans, who also added nickel corner Aaron Colvin to the roster.

"I just wanted to come where guys are hungry," Mathieu said. "Obviously, I'm very hungry at this point in my career. I wanted to come to a team that had great potential, a team that (can be) dominant on defense. I think I made the right choice."