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Lions President Rod Wood Explains Detroit Lions' Decision on Deshaun Watson

The Detroit Lions were not ever "serious" about trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Lions President Rod Wood Explains Detroit Lions' Decision on Deshaun Watson
Lions President Rod Wood Explains Detroit Lions' Decision on Deshaun Watson

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The Detroit Lions organization did not ever get to the point of being "serious" to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson. 

Speaking with reporters at the NFL owners meetings, Lions team president Rod Wood explained why the former Houston Texans quarterback was not seriously pursued. 

“We have a quarterback, so we were never in the game for that," Wood said, via the Detroit Free Press. "I don’t want to get into the off-the-field stuff and what the Browns talked about what they did and the other teams that pursued him, but it just wasn’t part of our plans."

The Cleveland Browns have faced heavy backlash for their decision to trade for the quarterback, after 22 women alleged sexual misconduct by Watson. 

Cleveland decided to give Watson a guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.

It was reported that the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers also made formal trade offers to the Texans. 

Watson had the ability to nix any deal, as he had a no-trade clause in his contract. 

Wood commented further, "Certainly. we’re going to look into everything, and we’re going to avoid certain types of behaviors. But, I think everybody gets the chance to make the case on what really happened. We had the situation with Quintez Cephus when we drafted him, and he went through the whole process, was found not guilty, proved his innocence. So, we got comfortable with that. That’s a real situation. A different situation might have a different result."

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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!