The Houston Texans season is set to begin on Sunday and Deshaun Watson remains with the organization. However, he’s listed at third on the depth chart and likely won’t play this weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Watson very publicly asked that the Texans trade him earlier this offseason, but negotiations died down when the 25-year-old quarterback was accused by over 20 women of sexual misconduct. Even so, at least four teams still showed some sort of interest in making a deal work.
Ultimately, the contenders to trade for Watson backed off, but Ian Rapoport confirmed the four teams last week. The NFL Network reporter named the Carolina Panthers, the Denver Broncos, the Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles as the teams that kicked the tires on a potential deal for the Pro Bowl quarterback.
“There were definitely teams that explored trading for Deshaun Watson… There are several reasons why he’s available. Teams owe it to themselves to explore it. If you can upgrade at quarterback, you have to do it. You have to look into it. So, the teams we talked about, the Eagles, the Panthers, maybe the Broncos, maybe the Dolphins. Yes, those teams had to explore a trade,” Rapoport explained in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
“There were times this offseason, I thought ‘okay, maybe a trade could happen somewhat soon.’ Then I got word, alongside Tom Pelissero, that it was not going to happen before the 4 p.m. roster cutdown deadline and that was a big deadline. That was basically the deadline before the season, because that means he’s on the 53-man roster. Unless I’m crazy, I don’t get a sense that [a trade] will happen before the season now.
“There were times this offseason I thought OK maybe a trade could happen somewhat soon…
I don’t get a sense it will happen before the season now”@RapSheet on Deshaun Watson & says the #Eagles, #Panthers, #Broncos, & #Dolphins showed interest in a trade #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/RSzXOLJqgg
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 2, 2021
It’s been nearly a week since Rapoport made that prediction and he’s been spot on so far. The Texans plan to carry Watson through Week 1 against the Jaguars, but he’s not expected to get any playing time.
Houston general manager Nick Caserio spoke last week about Watson’s potential availability to the Texans heading into the 2021 season. He stayed vague, but explained that the team will take things one day at a time.
“Each day we’re gonna make the decision we think is best,” Caserio told reporters last week. “Again, it’s a one-step process. Deshaun’s been here every day. He’s been in training camp every day. He’s been in the building, he’s been in meetings, he’s been around his teammates. We’re gonna take it one day at a time.
“I’m not going to get into a lot of speculation about what has happened, what didn’t happen. It’s a waste of everybody’s time, quite frankly, I think there’s more important things to talk about. We’re gonna take it one day at a time, we’re gonna do what we feel is best for our team and organization. I would say there’s no finite answer, no definitive answer here at this point and that’s how we’re gonna handle it.”
Given the ongoing legal situation involving Watson, taking things a day at a time seems to be the only thing the Texans can do. In the meantime, the 25-year-old quarterback will take up a roster spot while he sits on the sidelines.
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