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Less than four months after signing a $ 156 million extension with the Houston Texans, star quarterback Deshaun Watson is the subject of trade rumors amid the Houston regime change. While it’s hard to imagine the Texans actually treating their triple Pro Bowler, who is still only 25 years old and has just completed a career year, ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reported on Thursday that Watson himself had “discreetly discussed with his teammates the possibility of requesting a trade”.
“If that happens,” Florio wrote, “it may just be a strategic effort to make sure his views are respected by the property. Either way, it raises the stakes and crosses a bridge and potentially throws the groundwork for Watson to ultimately decide he would. likes to continue his career elsewhere. “
Again, is an exchange likely? There is no indication of this. But this is the NFL, where things can change in a hurry. The fact that a potential team of acquirers would only be close to paying around $ 56 million over the next two years, with Watson’s cap being relatively low until 2022, suggests that commercial offers would certainly arrive. if Houston was willing to listen.
With that in mind, here’s a look at 12 of the most logical potential contenders, not counting rivals from AFC South who would likely be off the table as possibilities:
Neither coach Kyle Shanahan nor general manager John Lynch have gone out of their way to declare Jimmy Garoppolo the undisputed QB going forward, and it’s obvious they will explore an upgrade if they can. The problem is, they’re not very well suited to trading a massive amount of picks, having already spent precious draft capital and financial resources on their current core.
A mega-deal for a star QB would seem a bit out of place for Pittsburgh, but that’s only because they’ve been riding with Ben Roethlisberger for so long. If Big Ben hangs up after 2020, there’s no reason the Steelers shouldn’t make that call. They have enough young talent on both sides of the ball, especially in defense, to afford to give up a significant number of picks if that meant making Watson the long-term successor to Roethlisberger.
Motor City need new blood across the board, and with Matthew Stafford set to enter the trading market himself, the Lions could immediately revitalize interest in their franchise by adding a QB of Watson’s caliber. They have enough space to make it work. They have some high draft picks to put on the table. And their QB coach Sean Ryan held the same position alongside Watson in Houston from 2017 to 2018, the QB’s first two seasons in the NFL.
Financially speaking, that would be tough – especially with Matt Ryan still on the books with a big problem. But let’s say you can send Ryan somewhere else (to his old friend Kyle Shanahan, maybe). What better way to kick off the new diet than with a new, young superstar at QB? Watson grew up as a Falcons ball boy, and his hometown of Georgia is only a few hours away. Even though compensation would be costly, the adjustment makes a lot of sense.
They aren’t exactly loaded with ceiling space, and acquiring Watson would also require dealing with Kirk Cousins, although that isn’t impossible (hello, San Francisco?). But chief executive Rick Spielman has been bold and creative at QB before, whether signing Cousins in the first place or trading for Sam Bradford and so on. Watson would also give them a longer term and higher captain for an offense already filled with star talent (Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson). That would be the definition of a blockbuster with title aspirations.
Transferring John Elway out of his day-to-day GM duties is likely hurting the Broncos’ chances of spending a lot to land Watson, but there is no doubt that he would still be involved in the negotiations, if they were to take place. And he loves the idea of a proven QB himself, especially as his impatience over the past half-decade has finally driven him to find a new GM. Denver has already added some promising young talent (see: Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton), so giving up a ton of picks might not be an impossible sale.
Look, Derek Carr is good, but don’t you dare try to tell us that Jon Gruden – the same guy who once compared Watson to * checks notes * Michael Jordan – wouldn’t at least try to sell that to Mike Mayock. Gruden avoids spending high picks on QBs more than we recognize, so acquiring Watson would not only allow him to continue to do so, but also give his offense a little more dynamism. Watson giving in to Josh Jacobs and throwing Henry Ruggs and Darren Waller? Playoffs on the bridge.
Alex Smith is not the answer, and the departure of Dwayne Haskins could leave the club a little timid when it comes to spending a major asset on an unproven arm. Watson is the prototypical figure in Ron Rivera’s culture – a leader standing on and off the pitch. As long as Dan Snyder owns the team, Washington is also perpetually in the market for veteran QB trading. Watson himself may not jump at the chance to play for WFT, but then again, the NFC East could present simpler paths to the playoffs.
GM Joe Douglas has the rare opportunity to draft one of QB’s top two prospects in April, and you could say he’s been working for this moment since joining the team in the summer of 2019. But Watson represents it. an even rarer opportunity: the addition of a proven young high level. The Jets are bursting with ceiling space, they have incredibly high choices to offer in a trade, and Watson’s presence alone would instantly inject life into one of the NFL’s major markets.
They find themselves in an almost impossible ceiling situation from 2021, but they are constantly handling dire financial difficulties. More than that, the Saints are set to enter uncharted territory after Drew Brees, and Sean Payton isn’t cheating on anyone if he says he’s 100% ready to turn the keys to Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston. . Watson would surely change his own deal if it meant moving to New Orleans, and the Saints would be able to seamlessly turn the page on a new generation of strife, even if it meant giving up all kinds of future draft picks and / or part ways with another big name down the road.
Their trainer, Matt Nagy, is about as obsessed with failing his own franchise as anyone. The guy infamously turned the kick tryouts into a team-wide spectacle, then went haywire adding tight ends on short runs from Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen to the post. Now, he might have a chance to correct GM Ryan Pace’s biggest mistake they’ve both heard of in years: the decision to pass Watson on to Mitchell Trubisky. Imagine the goodwill they would instantly promote in Chicago by finally making the right call and giving the Bears a bona fide franchise flagger.
The match of all matches. Wouldn’t it be downright Bill Belichickian of this team to recover from his first bad year in two decades and find a way to land one of the best young QBs in the game? New England have been a logical landing point for months, still needing a true successor to Tom Brady and having limited space, not to mention a penchant for draft pick trades. Watson, for his part, would certainly embrace the transition to a longtime suitor. And then there’s the front-office relationship: The Texans just made Patriots lifer Nick Caserio their new general manager, giving New England a clean path to trade negotiations.
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