It seems like ages ago, but before he was accused of going on a spree of sexual assaults against various women in the wellness industry, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson demanded a trade.
Understandably some fans have forgotten about that given the disturbing text messages and scandalous details that have emerged in the news in recent months.
That said, with the prospect of Watson settling with his accusers becoming increasingly likely be the day, conversations are quickly turning back to what his football-playing future stands to look like.
Will Houston retain Watson? Or will the organization oblige his original request and trade him?
If the Texans do opt to move Watson, there appear to be multiple viable options.
Specifically, at the moment there are four teams in serious contention for Watson’s services: the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Football Team.
“The moment these cases are settled, if it happens, that’s when the land rush begins for the Deshaun Watson contract,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said this past week on The Rich Eisen Show.
“The Texans may still get a decent return. Even thought this litigation took a lot of the steam out of the talk of — somebody had told me at one point, three first-round picks … if you get two, three, four teams at the table, then the value gets pumped back into this potential trade.
“I know Peter’s (King) got the teams he’s put on the shortlist, I’d put the Dolphins and Eagles at the top. The Eagles are one we’ve been saying for weeks now, desperately want a franchise QB and yes they want to give Jalen Hurts an opportunity to show he’s the guy, but if they have an opportunity to get a guy who’s shown he can do it and have him for 10 years, they’ll aggressively try to make it happen.”
Meanwhile, FanSided NFL columnist Matt Lombardo warns folks not to sleep on the Raiders and Washington Football Team in all this.
That’s one way to watch a game. https://t.co/rlfZSR4DDe
— Game 7 (@game7__) May 13, 2021
“Three teams that repeatedly came up in conversations with multiple executives were the Washington Football Team and Las Vegas Raiders, and Miami Dolphins as potential destinations for Watson,” Lombardo wrote.
Complicating this discussion even further is the specter of Watson possibly getting suspended for the entire season by the NFL.
As things stand, there is only one team Watson has refused to be traded to. That means once he is free of his legal entanglements, presuming the league doesn’t suspend him, there is a very good chance the Texan will ultimately deal him elsewhere sooner rather than later.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
