Texans Planned To Trade Deshaun Watson Before Lawsuits
To say the future of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson looks murky would be an understatement. Currently facing 16 lawsuits pertaining to cases of alleged sexual assault, it has now been reported that the Texans were in fact planning to trade Watson prior to the NFL Draft before these allegations came to light.
"After Watson met with coach David Culley on a Zoom conference call earlier this month and reiterated his determination to leave the Texans, they planned to trade him by the draft rather than endure a long holdout that would delay the rebuild," said the Houston Chronicle's John McClain.
This aligns with a recent TexansDaily.com report about talks "heating up'' just before the NFL Draft.
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However, as McClain went on to discuss, it seems likely that Watson's current legal situation has deterred his potential suitors from making any final decisions until more light has been shed on the situation.
When it comes to Houston's QB situation moving forward, this news may well have impacted their recent signings.
This past week, Texans general manager Nick Caserio brought in both former LA Chargers starting QB Tyrod Taylor and former Cincinnati Bengals backup QB Ryan Finley.
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First of all, this shows that the franchise is preparing for life after Watson.
Then there's the fact that they opted to acquire two veterans rather than drafting a long-term option or waiting to bring in a potential starter via a Watson trade.
This can be looked at in two ways.
Perhaps they see Taylor as a starter for the immediate future, who would be capable of both guiding a rookie (acquired via a draft pick from a Watson trade), and filling in whilst said youngster settles in.
However, this could also be seen as a sign that Houston doesn't have much faith that a deal with either a high enough draft pick or starting caliber QB can be pulled off this offseason.
While this is just speculation on our part, one statement can be made with relative certainty: Watson is out.
That could be this year, or it could be next should these cases drag on. But the writing is on the wall.
CONTINUE READING: NFL Free Agency Tracker: Texans Bring Back Veteran Long Snapper
