Caserio mum on strategy, Watson
New GM draws on his time with secretive team
Spending 20 years in the NFL’s most secretive and successful organization prepared Nick Caserio for the kind of interrogation he received Friday about quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Caserio, the Texans new general manager, carefully avoided disclosing anything about his plans before or after the draft for Watson during a predraft Zoom call with the Houston media.
Bill Belichick and the Patriots would have been proud.
“That situation is in the legal process, and we’re respectful of that,” Caserio said. “We’ll leave it there and focus on the things we can control, which is getting our team ready for the start of the offseason program (Monday) and getting our group ready for the draft (April 29-May 1) and the opportunities that’ll be in front of us.”
Watson demanded to be traded after the season. The Texans had planned to trade Watson, who has a no-trade clause, before the draft to one of six teams that had shown serious interest. Those teams put their interest on hold until Watson resolves his legal issues.
Watson is facing 22 civil suits accusing him of sexual harassment and assault. The NFL is investigating Watson, and he could be suspended.
If Watson is able to put the litigation behind him before the draft, he could be traded. If not, the Texans could wait until the
October trade deadline or until next year’s draft.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals or speculation,” Caserio said. “I’m not really good at that. We’re going to do what’s best for the Texans, and we’ll control what we can control.”
Watson wants to be gone sooner rather than later, and the Texans will be happy to accommodate him if a team makes an offer Caserio and team CEO Cal McNair believe is fair.
No matter how many times Caserio was asked about Watson on Friday, he responded in a similar manner. It’s not like reporters covering the team expected him to disclose anything pertinent about trade possibilities, but it was interesting to see how the general manager would handle the controversy in his first news conference since late January, when coach David Culley was hired.
“I really don’t have any comment,” he said. “I know Cal (McNair) and ownership put a letter out (to season-ticket holders) a few weeks ago just relative to the organizational stance relative to where we are. I don’t think there’s anything to add other than it’s a legal process.”
The Texans have three quarterbacks under contract — Watson, Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Finley. Caserio signed Taylor and acquired Finley in a trade with Cincinnati.
“We went back and evaluated our team, and I would say, specific to the quarterback position, there was only one player (Watson) under contract,” Caserio said. “A.J. (McCarron) was a free agent, and Josh (McCown) retired.
“When you have one player at any position on the team, you need more, right?”
One reason the Texans wanted Taylor is because Culley coached him with the Bills, and new quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton coached him last season with the Chargers.
“We went through our process and tried to identify some players we thought we liked,” Caserio said. “I would say in his (Taylor’s) particular case, he has some experience with coaches on our staff (and) has some experience in this type of system.
“Generally speaking, when you look at the roster construction and what we try to do at all positions is try to identify players we thought we liked. That may have had some experience with our staff and looking for an opportunity to compete, to be in a good situation. He (Taylor) certainly fell into that category like a lot of other players.
“How it’s all going to unfold, nobody has a crystal ball. We try to do what we thought was best for the team, and that’s why we signed the players we did.”
Because Watson isn’t expected to be part of the team, the Texans are going to need another quarterback. Caserio could sign another veteran or he could select one in the draft.
The Texans don’t have first- and second-round draft choices because of the trade with Miami for left tackle Laremy Tunsil and receiver Kenny Stills. Unless Caserio engineers a trade, they’ll wait until the third round to make the 67th overall pick.
The Texans have a lot of needs on both sides of the ball, but because Caserio has acquired 38 new players, he shouldn’t be desperate when making his first selection. If there’s a quarterback he likes in the third round or later, expect him to draft that prospect.
Caserio wouldn’t get into specifics about positions the Texans need or divulge any plans about taking a quarterback, but he did speak generally about his philosophy in the draft.
“I think the most important thing is to evaluate the players, have an understanding of the board top to bottom, and whatever opportunity you have to pick, just be ready to pick the player you feel most comfortable with,” he said. “You try to identify the players, make good decisions and, hopefully, you’ve evaluated them properly.
“And, hopefully, you’re on the positive side of the ledger more than you are on the negative side.”