The three biggest winners and losers from the Deshaun Watson trade

After a long, year-plus wait, Deshaun Watson was traded out of Houston.

Of all teams, no one thought the Cleveland Browns would be the ones who landed Deshaun Watson. Instead, they did it with a historic contract offer and a bevy of draft picks. The discussion of the optics of the trade and contract are outside the scope of this article; this will look solely at the who gained and lost the most from Watson’s trade.

There are a handful of teams involved in this, whether directly or indirectly. Houston drafted Davis Mills in the third round last year, so how will his chance to show he’s a franchise quarterback play out? Will the AFC South be the Texans’ to win with more draft picks in the upcoming future?

The Browns have their own situation to figure out with Baker Mayfield still on the roster, with a trade very likely to happen. Let’s get into the list, starting with our third-biggest loser:

The third biggest loser from the Deshaun Watson trade: Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have not had a good run with quarterbacks since Matt Rhule got the job in Carolina. Sam Darnold, Cam Newton, who was past his prime, and Teddy Bridgewater were enough for anyone to say “oof.”

Unless the Panthers are going to trade for anyone else, then it looks like their play of subpar quarterbacks is going to continue. When one adds in the fact that Carolina was the lone team that stuck around from the very beginning and had high hopes to get the trade done, it makes one wonder how much of their offseason they held up for Watson.

Good luck, Panthers. You’re going to need it.