The Houston Texans virtually interviewed Brian Flores on Friday. If hired, would that change the Deshaun Watson situation?
Are the Houston Texans trying to keep Deshaun Watson with the organization by making him happy? One of the ways to really make Deshaun Watson happier with the Texans franchise is by hiring the recently fired Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Remember one of the reasons why Watson was willing to accept a trade to Miami this past season before the trade deadline, even waiving his no-trade clause for a trade to happen, was because Flores was the head coach for the Dolphins.
Now with Flores out of Miami, and being a head coaching candidate for the Texans with the reported interview, how does change the situation with Watson, or does it change anything at all?
Flores coached the Dolphins from 2019-21, and in those three seasons as the Miami head coach, his win-loss record was 24 wins and 25 losses. In ’21 he got off to a 1-7 start, eventually leading his team to a 7-game winning streak for an 8-8 mark, and Miami had a chance to make the playoffs.
The Dolphins eventually finished 9-8 overall, had a winning season and he was fired. The Texans had a 4-13 season and fired David Culley after one season as their head coach, so here is Houston with the coaching vacancy.
It’s doubtful Watson stays with the Texans no matter who the head coach is, and Houston might have already made up their mind and will stay with Davis Mills as the starting quarterback, but for discussion’s sake, here are three reasons why Flores could be the next Texans coach and why it could work with Watson if legal issues are solved and fences are mended between Watson and the front office.
3. The offense would be better instantly with the Flores/Watson duo
There is still a lot of work ahead for Davis Mills being a starting quarterback in the NFL on a full-time basis, and if Brian Flores comes to the Texans he would be the reason for any possibility for a Deshaun Watson return to the Texans.
Watson is still in his 20s and missed all of last season by being on the active roster, but unwilling to play for the team due to a number of issues. It was a wasted season for Watson, but in the NFL fences can be mended, and mistakes can be forgotten, and this is what the Texans have here with a possible Flores and Watson combo.
If Flores would be able to get Watson to join the Texans if he were hired as the new head coach of the Texans, the Texans would be gaining a Top 10 quarterback in the league once again. Sure, the Texans were bad in ’20 with Watson as the starter where he and the Texans were 4-12, but any team would want a quarterback like Watson as their starter if he were healthy and all of his legal off-the-field issues are behind him.
Watson was the passing leader in the NFL in 2020, so the offense would gain instant improvement by adding a talented player like Watson who has 14,539 yards passing with 104 touchdown passes, and 17 rushing scores in 54 career games, including 53 starts.
2. There is some unfinished business for Watson as a Texans quarterback
Before everything exploded after the 2020 season Deshaun Watson was building a legacy with the Houston Texans, and even with everything that went down after the Texans lost to the Tennessee Titans to finish the ’20 season, Watson was cementing a very special career.
Watson has to be the most successful quarterback in Houston Texans history, and in only four seasons and 54 career games he helped lead the Texans to two division championships, a playoff win against the Buffalo Bills, and changed the way folks looked at the offense when he was on the field.
A lot has changed since then. Coaches and general managers have been fired, many players have been released or traded, and the feel of the Texans is much different than it was when Deshaun Watson was last under center for the franchise.
All of that said, if Brian Flores was hired by the Texans as their head coach, maybe the lasting memory of Watson won’t be him walking off the field with J.J. Watt after a 4-12 season, or filled with all of the legal issues, or from training camp when Watson stood in as decoy fourth-string secondary member in a defensive drill.
There is just a feeling that the Texans and Watson marriage can’t end with so much negativity after the success that was made, and what was waiting ahead for them. If Flores is hired, it could change that path, but if not, there is zero chance Watson ever plays for the Texans again.
1. The Texans would be giving Watson what he envisioned all along
This is doubtful, but if the Houston Texans were to give Deshaun Watson what he wanted all along, and that’s to play for Brian Flores (if that’s the case), then what an olive branch it would be by the front office of the Texans.
Granted, it should have never gotten to this point to begin with, but imagine a world where the Houston Texans front office actually listened to their former star quarterback, hired the head coach he wanted to play for, and success followed after Nick Caserio did his magic as the Houston general manager?
All would be forgotten and forgiven if wins came and playoff victories happened. Nothing has really been the same since the former GM of the Texans imploded the offense by trading DeAndre Hopkins for very little in return, and from that point on the Texans haven’t had many wins to their credit.
With only eight wins combined the past two seasons, the Houston Texans are lucky the Jacksonville Jaguars are in their division or that record would be four wins worse. We all know the Texans are probably moving forward from Watson, and chances are slim he ever plays for the franchise, but as long as the Texans are showing interest in Flores, and Watson is still officially a member of the roster, there is still a chance.
As Kevin Garnett once screamed after winning an NBA championship … “Anything is possible.” That is the case in the NFL, too. Many comebacks have been made, and many fences have been mended in the history of the NFL, and that too could be the case with Watson and the Texans if Flores is hired as the head coach this offseason.