Watson focused on winning games, not new contract heading into season
The path to negotiating a blockbuster contract is less direct and more complicated than a trademark Deshaun Watson spiral.
As the Texans and Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta, continue talks with hopes of reaching a long-term financial pact before the start of the regular season, Watson made his stance abundantly clear.
Watson won’t be distracted by the business of football and has a specific deadline in mind for finalizing a deal. And he has gained enough of a comfort level heading into his fourth NFL season that he feels confident tying his future to the Texans franchise.
“I’m here, I love this organization,” Watson said Saturday during a Zoom video call. “I love the McNair family. I love the coaching staff. I love the coaches. I love the players. I love the city. I love the fanbase. Right now, my main focus is continuing to be a Houston Texan and making sure that I’m bringing everything I can and doing everything I can to bring this city and this organization its first championship. Right now, I’m a Houston Texan, and the future is going to tell itself, but I’m locked in on being a Texan.”
No contract extension is imminent for Watson, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly. Talks have remained positive from both sides’ perspective. It’s just a matter of finding common ground on the right numbers in terms of contract length, guaranteed money and overall structure.
Due $2.354 million with a relatively modest $4.408 million salary-cap figure this year, Watson is under contract through the 2021 season via a $17.54 million fifth-year option. If talks continue to progress, Watson will wind up with an extremely lucrative deal heading into the Texans’ rematch Sept. 10 against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“My representation and the organization have definitely been talking, but timing is everything,” Watson said. “Right now, I’m just focused on football and my team and building this chemistry and building this offense.
“My agent knows the time and the time limit, and things like that. My biggest thing, like I’ve always been wanting to do since I was a little kid, is just play football, win a championship, win games and compete.”
A new deal for Watson isn’t expected to resemble Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ $12-year, $503 million deal. Watson is expected to be paid as much as $40 million to $42 million annually, which would exceed Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson’s four-year, $140 million extension signed last year that averages $35 million and includes $107 million guaranteed with a $65 million signing bonus.
The way that the Chiefs feel about Mahomes mirrors how the Texans feel about Watson. With his strong, accurate arm, elusiveness, toughness and uncanny improvisational skills, Watson gives the Texans an opportunity to be competitive against any team.
“We’re not going to talk about contracts in the media, but we obviously have stated that we have so much belief in Deshaun,” Texans coach and general manager Bill O’Brien said. “We love Deshaun. We want him here for a long time.
“He’s an excellent decision maker. He’s a very instinctive player. One of his greatest traits is that he really has an understanding and he can see the field really well. He makes good decisions. I think from where he was a rookie to where he is now, it’s improved leaps and bounds and will continue to get better with all the reps and how well he really understands the pro game now. He is a very instinctive player.”
In three NFL seasons, Watson has gone 24-13 as a starter and passed for 9,716 yards, 71 touchdowns and 29 interceptions while completing 66.8 percent of his throws. He’s also rushed for 1,233 yards and 14 touchdowns.
“He means an opportunity to win every game,” Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said. “Very fortunate to have a quarterback who will keep you in every game no matter what the situation and know that you go into a game with a chance to win every single game you play.”
Watson is determined to keep improving, though, and spent this offseason training with his longtime private coach Quincy Avery to make more strides in his game.
“Deshaun understands the level of consistency he wants to achieve, so he irons out all the small details in his game to get to that point and play with timing and understand everything conceptually to a high degree of knowledge,” Avery said during a telephone interview. “Deshaun has always been a student of the game. He’s done it against NFL defenses for three seasons at a high level, so those experiences have given him a lot more information and he can build upon all of that.
“Whenever the contract happens, it won’t change him at all. He’ll still be the same Deshaun, grounded and humble. I’m excited to see everything happening for him because he’s worked extremely hard and deserves it all.”
Watson went 10-5 as a starter last season for the AFC South champions, passing for 3,852 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He was extremely sharp in the playoffs, including passing for 388 yards, two touchdown passes with one touchdown run in an AFC divisional round playoff loss to the Chiefs.
As well as Watson played, especially in a playoff win over the Buffalo Bills when defenders bounced off of him before he completed a clutch pass to running back Taiwan Jones, he’s set his ambitions on playing even better.
“Just being very detailed in my craft, not making those little errors, mistakes,” Watson said. “Of course, protecting the ball and making sure everyone is on the same page. Really just coming down to the end of the game situations. I know I was pretty decent at it last year, but I want to be perfect and I want to be able to win those close games.
“I want to be able to close out those games against New Orleans and against a couple of other teams that we came up short against in the fourth quarter, especially against those with great quarterbacks. I want to be able to focus on that, build a craft and be able to get us in the perfect play each and every time. Even though that’s hard and it’s kind of impossible to do, I feel like it’s possible.”