Deshaun Watson Trade Rumors: Here’s The Latest

The picture is starting to clear up after only three weeks of NFL football. We know a few things.

• The Jets, and the Giants are terrible.
• Sam Darnold has been competent in a well organized and efficient offense, despite the terrible pass protection in front of him.
• Jalen Hurts needs plenty of time to throw, has the offensive line and arm talent to to allow him to do it, and his athleticism is extraordinary.
• The Colts are 0-3 and Carson Wentz is playing.
• The Dolphins, who were eying a playoff run, are 1-2 and without Tua Tagovailoa for a few more weeks.

And your Houston Texans? Well, Tim Kelly was able to create a top ten passing attack with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. With Davis Mills in his place, they’ve dwindled down to a bottom five unit, and the defense is wretched unless it’s creating turnovers.

Taylor’s success was surprising. The rest of the results aren’t. The Texans were going to be bad, and they are bad this season. The most important part of this year is what they get for Deshaun Watson. If Houston nails the trade and the picks that go along with it, they could be a ‘good’ team in two years. If they botch it, we could be in for a long decade.

Watson hasn’t played a down this season. He’s in the office, haunting the halls like some moaning ghost who drowned in a toilet years ago. He’s there, but he isn’t there. With the weeds being cleared and desperation across the league setting in, the rumors of a Watson trade are heating back up.

According to Jay Glazer, the Texans’ stance on the asking price for Watson has ‘softened’ (I guess this is a Dairy Queen, and not a football team) after they had previously allegedly turned down three first round picks and three second round picks for Watson before the 2021 NFL Draft.

There’s one major misnomer about this situation. The Texans don’t have a deadline. They don’t have to trade Deshaun Watson. Nobody is forcing them to do anything. Watson is under contract for four more years. The Texans need to know what the draft picks they’d get are worth when they trade him, and a suspension isn’t imminent. There are no bargains to be had here.

Personally, I don’t see a Watson trade happening this season. It would be a terrible decision to trade him before the offseason. Again, and again, and again, the Texans need to know what the picks they receive will be worth when they trade Watson. Moving him during the season doesn’t do this.

There is no rush. There is no pressure. There are only rumors, and teams like Miami that need a franchise quarterback.