Deshaun Watson’s hometown Falcons want to trade for him, but Texans should ignore the call

The teams who want Deshaun Watson are starting to grow again.

Just earlier this morning, when it seemed that the Carolina Panthers and the Cleveland Browns were thought to be the top two teams to land Deshaun Watson, another NFC South team has entered the competition.

This time it’s Watson’s hometown Atlanta Falcons who are reportedly a “sleeper team,” according to Adam Schefter. Watson grew up in Gainesville, Georgia, which is 57 minutes from Atlanta. Atlanta had no choice to get involved in this effort for Watson, as New Orleans and Carolina have been rumored as destinations.

This trade would most likely send Matt Ryan to Houston in a swap for Watson, along with all of the handful of draft picks that Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio has wanted in return.

Trading Deshaun Watson to Atlanta would be a good but not the best idea.

Atlanta would be nice for Watson, but it would be hard for the Texans to get an effective player back from their roster. Matt Ryan is in his late 30s; their best wide receiver in Calvin Ridley got suspended for a year, which makes their best player on offense Cordarelle Patterson or Kyle Pitts. Patterson is the most likely one who is traded between those two.

Another player that Houston could try to trade for but would meet heavy resistance is A.J. Terrell, the cornerback who had one of the best seasons for an individual at his position in 2021.

Ryan could mentor Davis Mills, who was thrust into action and had a rough year until the final few weeks of the regular season.

There are better teams to deal Watson to. If Houston does this, then they would be settling for less than what they really could have gotten. It would be the equivalent of what the Seattle Seahawks had to do with Russell Wilson.