'Bad Blood!' Is Deshaun Watson the Reason Houston Texans Won't Draft QB C.J. Stroud?
Are the Houston Texans still feeling the aftershocks of their failed relationship with former quarterback Deshaun Watson - so much so that it might negatively impact their decision in at the position in this NFL Draft?
The team’s reported disinterest in Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud can exist for a number of reasons. Those reasons include the "red alerts'' that, fairly or not, have become part of Stroud's pre-Draft baggage, and they also include the information that fuels our scoop on coach DeMeco Ryans' affection for defensive end Will Anderson. (And maybe for pass-rusher Tyree Wilson.)
In any event, as it seems to become more and more likely that the Carolina Panthers will select Alabama QB Bryce Young with the top overall pick, the Texans will, one way or another, make a decision on Stroud.
And lingering issues with Watson could be a factor in that decision, as suggested by Washington Post NFL insider Jason La Canfora. La Canfora reports that there is a belief that Stroud’s agent could be a turnoff for the organization because of the fact that he also represents Watson, who of course engineered his way out of Houston last year via a blockbuster trade to Cleveland after an awful conflict that included a host of sexual misconduct allegations against the QB who at the the time was "the face of the franchise.''
Would the Texans really pass on a superior player because he's represented by agent David Mulugheta?
"There’s a lot of bad blood there,’ one anonymous GM told La Canfora. "I don’t think (owner Cal McNair) could stomach having Mulugheta’s next top quarterback be the next face of his franchise. I think that’s a non-starter there.'”
We have been told by Texans sources that Mulugheta’s involvement is not a factor, one source telling TexansDaily.com that Mulugheta has too many high-profile and talented clients to make avoiding him a feasible approach. It's also worth noting that it was only a few months before the Watson/Texans falling out when the two sides worked well together to create a new contract that was at the time intended to make Watson a "Texan for Life.''
That didn't quite work out. We're about to find out of "bad blood'' is a factor in keeping C.J. Stroud from every earning the same title.
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