Texans are still in the denial phase. This is going to take a while. We need Deshaun to go public strongly to confirm what everyone and their mother is saying behind the scenes to reporters.
Or they simply don’t care and are willing to call his bluff, even if he sits out a season, that he’s not willing to walk away from football in order to not play for them. what’s the worst that could happen to the Texans? They toll his contract, still have him for four more years after he returns and for $10 mil that first year? He’s young, it’s not like you risk an age related decline when he returns. And they are terrible in 2021 without him and get a high draft pick? You have to assume they are going to be terrible, regardless, so no big difference there. The difference is they can end up with a high pick AND a franchise QB when he returns. there is a positive for the Texans that you simply can’t refuse to acknowledge.
The way Watson's camp is handling things is reminiscent of how Kawhi Leonard's camp did during his situation in San Antonio. Gotta wonder if they are following that playbook, since that's a similar situation in terms of the caliber of player and stage in his career. If they are, I wouldn't expect to hear from him until a couple of weeks before the draft.
It's in the Texan's best interest to drag this out. The longer it goes, the more other teams have time to make arrangements -trades, cuts, contract renegotiations - ro become ready to make a strong bid for Watson. The more competition, the higher the bidding.
If they are they are ignoring one significant glaring difference — Kawhi Leonard only had one year left on his contract and his departure was imminent regardless.
I think the more the longer musical chairs goes in for the less chairs there are at the end. If those goes past the draft there will be less suitors.
True, but they can only trade him to one team so they only need one team that is willing to pay whatever price the Texans demand to get him, and one way to get that is to appear to be absolutely unwilling to trade him.
Sabotaging options that create the most defined value for your business because you're emotional or "trying to make a point" is the height of business ineptitude. So it would be very on-brand for the Texans to call Watson's bluff, thinking this is "just another whiny player" that they control.
I'm talking the media handling of it, but don't let me get in the way of your crusade to be completely wrong about how this situation will turn out.
Now take it further.....Then why bother using our #2 overall on a QB that will ultimately lose to Patrick Mahomes when it really counts. It really comes down to either we get Watson to compete H2H against Mahomes, or we build a solid, complete TEAM through the draft that can beat the Chiefs.
Sabotaging options? Do you believe less teams will want to trade for Watson next year than this year? I find that hard to believe. you also continue to ignore one significant option — Watson returns to play for them.
It didn't work out all too well for a while there for Carson Palmer. He threatened to retire and they called his bluff and shipped him out to a dumpster fire mid-season only after an offer came in that they could not refuse. I wouldn't underestimate a franchises willingness to play hardball with a guy under team control for another four years.
My opinion is that the Texans are going to trade him because the offer they get will be too good to pass up. If I had to bet I’d say SF. Caserio gets Garapollo and a ton of picks. You don’t mortgage the farm because you think he can be a piece you can build upon to be a SB contender, you only do so if you believe Watson is the missing piece to the team, as is, to win the SB. The Vikings, on paper, had everything it seemed to win a SB except a running back, which is why they gave up so much for Hershel Walker. The Fins haven’t shown they are good enough that Watson makes them better than the Ravens, nevertheless the Chiefs. And if Allen continues to progress they may not be better than the Bills. The Jets aren’t even in the discussion of ascending to that level with Watson. That’s not to say it wouldn’t happen just that there’s no reason to believe it likely based on what we know of them now.
My point is that they have an unbelievable benefit of processing a trade before the draft because they can potentially fill the return package with locked in, guaranteed picks. Especially if they deal with MIA/NYJ. That's a massive bonus that they'd be pissing away for the sake of attempting to prove their might. If they wait until afterwards, they do not have nearly the same potential control of the return - it's just educated guesses and hope at that point. And Mike Brown is a notoriously awful executive, like worst in the NFL level. Based on what we've seen so far out of Houston, it would not be surprising if the 2021 Texans followed in his footsteps.
And yet, despite Brown’s awfulness, he still pulled off a great trade for a declining QB, which only strengthens the argument that the Texans are the ones in a position of power the same as the Bengals were. the discussion is not about whether the Texans have been run well.
