Twenty-one words by Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio painted a picture of what the franchise wants everyone to believe this offseason, and that is they don’t want to trade Deshaun Watson.
That’s not hard to believe because what franchise in their right mind would ever want to trade one of the most elite quarterbacks in all of the NFL? What team would want to trade a quarterback who was the passing leader of the NFL this past regular season? Is there any team in the NFL, after years of trying to find a franchise quarterback, that would actually made a deal to trade said quarterback?
The hope by Houston Texans fans is that isn’t their team, and Caserio did say the following as Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted the following quote by Caserio before he took questions from the media on Friday during the introductory press conference of new head coach David Culley:
Texans’ GM Nick Caserio: "Before we take a few questions: Organizationally, we want to reiterate our commitment to Deshaun Watson. We have zero interest in trading the player."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 29, 2021
The best part about this is that Caserio got the elephant in the room out and about right at the start of questions being asked and didn’t try to downplay the current situation.
Also at the press conference, new head coach David Culley also spoke about wanting Deshaun Watson to stay with the franchise, even though it was reported this week that Watson has asked to be traded:
New Texans head coach David Culley on Deshaun Watson: "He is a Houston Texan. I want him to be a Houston Texan. The reason I'm in this position today is because I know he's going to be a Houston Texan."
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 29, 2021
Let’s all hope the optimism that Culley has rings true, but if the reports are correct about Deshaun Watson wanting out, then either the Texans will eventually trade their franchise quarterback or Watson can sit out and just not play in 2021 if the Texans decide not to trade him. Going back to Caserio, it wasn’t a good way of putting words side-by-side when he described Watson as “the player.”
Deshaun Watson is the face of the Houston Texans
Who calls their franchise quarterback “the player?”
Deshaun Watson is the face of the Houston Texans, and no matter how much it seems some in the Texans front office want to change that, the fact is until he is actually traded, Watson is the best player on the roster, and he is the leader of the team as the starting quarterback.
The further along this offseason progresses, the more and more all of us are going to hear from those with “sources close to Deshaun Watson” about the trade rumors, trade packages and how Watson and Cascerio are feeling.
Deshaun Watson does deserve more respect from the Texans as he is more that “the player,” and the feeling is fans would be more surprised that Deshaun Watson decides to stay with the Houston Texans and not have them trade him from the only franchise he’s ever player for this offseason.
At least the Texans are trying to save face, but saying they have zero interest in a trade seems false because this is the Houston Texans we are talking about, after all, and they’ve never been known for the positive decisions they’ve made in the past.