A Deshaun Watson Update with an Eagles' Tint

An ongoing criminal investigation is impacting Deshaun Watson’s plan to get out of Houston and back onto an NFL playing field.

Rusty Hardin, the embattled quarterback's Houston-based attorney, has filed a motion requesting that Watson’s scheduled deposition in a series of civil accusations accusing the star of sexual misconduct during massage sessions be pushed back to no earlier than April 1.

The new NFL league year starts March 16 and the draft begins on April 28, the wheelhouse when it comes to the league and leverage for potential trades.

The reason for Hardin’s request can be traced to the open criminal investigation of Watson by the Houston Police Department.

In criminal cases, defendants have the right to remain silent and not have that silence used against them at a potential trial. Conversely, in civil cases, staying silent can be used against someone accused.

In layman’s terms that means Hardin doesn’t want Watson being deposed under oath until the criminal investigation runs its course.

The thought in Houston for quite some time is that a potential indictment of Watson is unlikely, according to multiple sources close to the investigation. The high-profile nature of the case, however, likely has prosecutors wanted to signal that the investigation has been exhaustive.

As for the 22 civil accusations, Watson and his camp agreed to settle with 18 of the accusers when Miami made a push to acquire Watson at the trade deadline last season. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross signed off on the acquisition on the condition Watson settled all of his outstanding civil complaints.

Watson reportedly wanted to play in Miami, so a serious effort was made but there were four holdouts.

As far as the Eagles, league sources said that Jeffrey Lurie gave Howie Roseman the green light to pursue Watson last year despite the potential public-relations issues and Roseman went so far as to send an investigator to South Texas to gather as much information on the accusations as a possible.

Watson, however, made it clear he had no interest In Philadelphia at the time and refused to consider waiving his no-trade clause to play for the Eagles.

Fast forward and the Eagles are now a much more stable commodity with Nick Sirianni quickly developing from unknown to perhaps the best coach in the 2021 rookie class as Philadelphia jumped from four to nine wins.

Furthermore, DeVonta Smith hit the ground running as a rookie receiver and Dallas Goedert developed into one of the NFL's better tight ends, a landscape that could prove to be much more enticing for a cleared Watson.

According to Houston-based reporter Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network, the Texans want to trade Watson prior to the NFL draft and would prefer to have closure before the start of free agency on March 16 when his $35 million salary becomes fully guaranteed.

The latter of those scenarios seems completely off the table with the latest news and even the former seems like a long shot as the courts simply do not operate with the NFL’s calendar in mind.

If the Texans, however, decide they will take pennies on the dollar just to rid themselves of Watson and the player himself realizes he has to accept any potential destination due to his circumstance, all bets are off.

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.