This news breaking right now was the worst possible thing to happen. How am I going to focus at work?
Yes, tampering. But the most recent players contract forbids teams from having ANY contact with the players during the off season. Maybe if Waston contacts them first, it's ok?
That’s why we need Watson to help us. If he says it’s Jets or bust, we hold all the cards. If he says Miami is cool too, we have to hope Miami doesn’t drive the price up.
So what comes first. Watson saying to his GM "These are the ONLY teams I will go to, good luck". Or GM saying to Watson "This is the best deal I can get, do you stay or do you go?" Watson has a no trade to he only has to go to a team he wants. But Texans own his ass so they only have to trade him to a team that offers the most.
They're not going let him rot. Watson will be moved by the start of free agency or at the very latest, the draft. The Texans won't let a disgruntled QB worth multiple 1sts rot on the bench when they need all the resources they can get.
I bet he plays it coy, He'll tell the GM that these are the teams he would consider going to without firmly committing himself to waive his no-trade clause with respect to any particular team. The no-trade clause gives Watson leverage, and there's no sense giving up that leverage too soon. The HC hire is beyond bizarre. Will anyone want to play in Texas? Did they hire a 65-year-old guy with no HC experience and no HCing prospects because he's likely to do whatever Easterby and Caserio tell him to do and never push back? You have to figure that the players (and the entire league) will see Culley as a yes man. The team is still in the driver's seat because of Watson's contract, but I have every confidence that Houston's crack management team will figure out a way to fuck that up, too.
I wonder if Allen Robinson is talking to Watson behind the scenes about joining forces in New York. That would be amazing
Without a doubt. They have been liking each others tweets over the last few weeks. Robinson knows he is elite and has been hamstrung by playing with mediocre QBs since college. He absolutely wants to play with a star and I would bet money wherever Watson goes, A Rob goes.
It's possible, although all previous signals from Robinson has been for the Jets. As he said, time will tell.
They will if they can’t get those multiple first rounders that they want. Or if Watson nixes the trade they want. Watson will have to decide whether he simply wants out of Houston or if he tries to force his way out to a specific team when he has no leverage to do so.