The Deshaun Watson and Houston Texans saga is causing some drama.
When talking about Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans since the conclusion of the 2020 regular season it has been anything but butterflies and rainbows. There have been many “sources” and “reports” on the two parties as a cohesive unit, and to be quite honest, the topic as a whole is nerve-racking to say the least.
Sunday was a big day full of sources as ESPN’s Chris Mortensen had multiple tweets of the Deshaun Watson situation with the Texans from folks he knows who are close to the situation. Now Peter King in his weekly “Football Morning in America” column give his opinion on Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans, and it is honestly not that bad of advice he writes in his column.
King has covered the NFL for many years, and has seen a thing or two when it comes to players being potentially unhappy with their current team, and the Watson and Texans situation most likely isn’t something King hasn’t covered before.
Now as for what King wrote in his column on Monday, his topic was simply: “Deshaun Watson.” King began his discussion on Watson and the Texans with the following words:
"“Wouldn’t it be interesting if that trade was Watson to Miami for Tua Tagovailoa and a passel of Dolphins picks? But before we go too far, I want to quote that famous American philosopher Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X.”"
King then went on to write this and this advice for the Texans:
"“And when no one’s looking and Caserio can confidently meet Watson in absolutely privacy with his new coach, then try to surgically repair the relationship. Till then, no sense for the Texans to try to pick at this fresh wound.”"
Before that quote he said things just need to “simmer down” between Watson, the Texans and all involved because new general manager Nick Caserio hasn’t been on the job a week yet, and hasn’t met with the franchise quarterback of the Texans either. Plus the Texans still don’t have a head coach.
Deshaun Watson and Houston Texans should consider King’s advice
The advice from King in his FMIA column is worth taking note of, and for the Texans it is worth listening to because if Deshaun Watson is angry with the team, he needs a break from all involved with he front office. Since he’s currently on vacation, just let Watson enjoy himself, then come back to business later this month.
It is tough to imagine any team would want to trade the amount of capital it would take to trade for a franchise quarterback like Watson, who is hitting the prime of their career. It is even tougher to fathom the Houston Texans finding a quarterback that is equal to or better than Watson either. So to put it bluntly — the Houston Texans would be foolish to get to the point this offseason where they couldn’t keep Deshaun Watson as their quarterback after the season he just had.
Watson is coming off his best season stat wise with 4,823 passing yards to lead the entire NFL, along with a 70.2 percent completion percentage which was also the best of his career. Deshaun Watson also set a new Texans record with 33 passing touchdowns in a season, plus he threw a career-low seven interceptions while playing in all 16 games this season. Watson attempted 544 passes, which was also a career-most in attempts for a season.
The downfall was Deshaun Watson was sacked 49 times in 2020 — the second most times in his career — and all of those huge passing numbers came with losing Will Fuller for just over the final quarter of the season, plus there were injuries throughout the season to his receivers, and not much of a rushing attack from the running backs either as they were one of the worst units in the NFL. Also don’t forget the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins during the the ’20 offseason as well.
Watson showed how important he is to the Texans this past season, and he also showed if he were to demand a trade what he could do for teams that are in need of an established, franchise quarterback.
The Texans must find a way to please Watson, because even if they did finish 4-12 overall following Watson’s best season of his four-year career. Imagine how good he could have been if Houston had actually fielded a competitive defense, and players on the offense would have stayed on the field for the entire season or hadn’t been traded.
Peter King makes some excellent and agreeable points in his Football Morning in America column, so the hope is Nick Caserio and Deshaun Watson can hopefully sit down one-on-one and work things out.
If Deshaun Watson leaves Houston, not only would the on-field product take a big step back, but how would the fan base take the news of losing one the very best players currently on the roster for a second straight offseason?