Rumor: Broncos Included on Deshaun Watson's Top-5 List of Trade Landing Spots
Deshaun Watson has reportedly requested that the Houston Texans trade him. The disgruntled quarterback was purportedly miffed over Cal McNair's decision to hire Nick Caserio as GM in Houston without consulting Watson or even making him a part of the process.
Watson was under the impression, based on the reporting close to the situation, that McNair would involve him in the Texans' search for a new GM and head coach. Houston has since filled both vacancies and Watson had nothing to do with Caserio or David Culley getting hired, respectively.
Th 27-year-old QB has only been in the league since 2017 and already has three Pro Bowl nods. The only year he didn't land in the Pro Bowl was his rookie year in which he rocketed onto the NFL scene but finished the year with a torn ACL, capping the campaign short.
Watson is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. The Texans would be remiss to trade him away and yet, as inexplicable as a trade seems, this storyline continues to build momentum, despite new GM Caserio releasing a statement to the contrary.
On the heels of Watson telling 'sources' that he officially wants out of Houston, nationally syndicated radio host Dan Sileo reported that the aggrieved signal-caller has a top-5 list of preferred NFL landing spots. The Denver Broncos make the list at No. 4 — purportedly.
It's interesting but to consider Sileo's 'report' as anything more than rumor or speculation would be ill-advised. Yes, he has a nationally syndicated talk show but he's citing 'sources."
Meanwhile, Caserio and the Texans are trying to play down and deescalate the Watson situation. Watson hasn't tweeted or gone on the record himself with any sort of 'I want out' declaration.
If the inexplicable happens and Watson is indeed dealt away, it'd take a veritable king's ransom to land him. On Thursday, ESPN's Bill Barnwell asserted a trade package for the Broncos to acquire Watson that, on the surface, is an enormous haul, but likely, still wouldn't be enough.
Throw in the speculation surrounding Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions and the landscape of available quarterbacks with a proven track record has radically improved. If you're a new GM like George Paton, surely these are deals you want to "be a part of" and at least find out what the parameters would be.
Things could get juicy for the Broncos. In Stafford's case, I'd expect a resolution to come sooner than later. On the Watson front, I'll still be surprised if he suits up for any other team besides the Texans in 2021. However, he does have a no-trade clause in the massive $156,000,000 contract extension he signed last year, which means that he couldn't be traded unless he were to sign off on that team.
In other words, Houston couldn't just deal Watson to whichever team offers the biggest bounty. Watson would have to be on-board.
In terms of likelihood, I'd hedge on the side of Drew Lock being the Broncos' day-one starter under center, followed by Stafford, followed by a first-round quarterback. But running back Lock in 2021 is far from certain. Buckle up, Broncos Country, because if nothing else, the next couple of months could be exciting.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
