Who makes the most sense for Deshaun Watson now?
The offseason started off strong with the Rams and Lions swapping quarterbacks, and now this past week the Eagles sent Carson Wentz to the Colts. Three former first round quarterbacks now have new homes but the name all football fans keep waiting to hear is Texans’ Deshaun Watson.
Near the beginning of the offseason Watson demanded a trade away from Houston after the team blatantly disrespected him with the hiring of their new General Manager, Nick Caserio. Both ownership, Caserio and the recently hired head coach, David Culley have all stated that Deshaun will be a Texan when the 2021 season begins. This likely wont be the case, considering the fact that Watson hasn’t even bothered to contact the organization and seems adamant that he wants out. So at this point in the offseason, with the draft 60 days away the Texans have got to decide whether they’ll deal Watson or keep being stubborn and turn away potential suitors. So if Deshaun were to actually get traded prior to the draft, where might the most likely landing spot for him be?
The Chicago Bears made a huge mistake in 2017 when they didn’t even scout Watson, and eventually chose Mitchell Trubisky. Mitch really hasn’t worked out since, while Watson thrived even in poor organizational situations. If the Bears were to offer a trade package for Watson they would likely have to give up multiple first round picks and likely someone on defense like Roquan Smith to even have a shot at being in contention for the star quarterback.
Another spot that has had a lot of talk around them is the New York Jets. The Jets just recently hired their new head coach, Robert Saleh, and are sitting pretty at the second overall pick in the draft. Say this trade is able to be finalized prior to the draft the Texans could potentially turn around and choose their replacement for Watson, not a bad deal in my opinion. So the package from the Jets would certainly include this years first rounder as well as future firsts, and potentially a player; Quinnen Williams is a name that could be included due to his possibility to replace JJ Watt who the Texans recently released.
Finally and probably most likely, the Texans could ship Watson off to Carolina. The Panthers have recently been clearing a considerable amount of cap space, and are a prime location for Watson since he attended the University of Clemson for his college career. The package once again is likely to include a first round pick, but its likely the Panthers would throw in Christian McCaffrey. All Panthers fans just got mad at me I know, but tossing in the former all pro would just make sense. The Texans need strong position players who make good leaders, and Christian certainly is that.
To conclude, the Texans are definitely trading Deshaun Watson, there’s no question about it. There is no reason for them to keep a player who is clearly going to hold out of the season instead of trading him for a pick where they can select his replacement. Will the organization make the right decision? Likely not. But we can only hope.