Not so fast.
A day after the news about Deshaun Watson was asked to make a trade, Nick Caserio, a new Texas Texans GM, made it clear that he did not give up on keeping him in the kraal, and a departure with set up the franchise QB.
“Organizationally, we want to reiterate our commitment to Deshaun Watson,” he told press conference Friday to introduce head coach David Culley. “We have no interest in trading the player.”
Although Watson’s frustration over the franchise did not have much to do with Caserio and Culley personally, there was no indication that they would change their minds.
The 25-year-old Clemson alum expected to have a say in the new leadership of the team after a gloomy 4-12 season. This apparently did not happen when the team hired Ceserio without notifying Watson.
Culley, on his first official day with the team, tried to give optimism to the looming ugliness.
“He’s a Houston Texan,” the 65-year-old first coach said. ‘I want him to be a Houston Texan. The reason I’m in this post today is because I know he’s going to be a Houston-Texan. ”
That positivity can be misplaced. Watson, whose four-year contract ranges from $ 156 million to 2025 with a non-trading clause, has most of the leverage in this case, and is reportedly ‘dug in’ after it’s dealt with. The Texans can do him little more than refuse to show up, though NFL Network has reported that he is willing to ‘sit down and lose money’.
Several teams are expected to be in the trading market for Watson, who surpassed the NFL with a career high of 4,823 and set a personal record of 33 runs in 2020. The Jets were able to put together an interesting package that was presented by the no. choose in the 2021 NFL draft, but they will have to compete with AFC East enemies of New England and Miami, as well as the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.