The Houston Texans are still telling any team calling that they are not trading Deshaun Watson, league sources told ESPN.
Watson still wants to be from Houston and according to sources no longer wants to play for the Texans. No matter how many calls they get to Watson, according to sources, the Texans insist they will not deal with him.
Other teams around the NFL got the message and now they are waiting to see if the attitude of the Texans will change, but sources within and around the organization told ESPN that their position will not change.
As speculation continued to revolve around Watson, the Texans continued to make sweeping organizational changes. Last week, they fired football administration director Kevin Krajcovic, equipment manager Mike Parson and his staff and another longtime employee, Doug West.
It is said that Parson has a close relationship with Watson, and that these changes do not suit players well.
One player told ESPN privately that the Texans were eliminating employees who had not been appointed by executive vice president Jack Easterby and new general manager Nick Caserio.
These changes are not expected to help the situation with Watson, who has asked the Texans to trade him.
Watson, who signed a four-year, $ 156 million four-year contract extension in September, is under contract until 2025. He has a no-trade clause, but given the length of his contract and the possibility of keeping him with franchise labels for three years, the Texans could choose not to trade him and would control them over his rights by the 2028 season.
The trade request comes after Watson was apparently unhappy with the process the team hired in early January.