Watson reunion with GM Smith not a likely event
HOUSTON —In a perfect world for Texans fans, Rick Smith would be hired as the New York Giants’ new general manager and trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Close your eyes and dream about the buzz in Houston — not to mention in the New York/new Jersey area — if general manager Nick Caserio negotiated a Watson trade with Smith for multiple picks in the April draft.
Watson has a no-trade clause, but a trade to the Giants should be one he’d approve.
In 2017 — his 12th and final year as the Texans’ general manager — Smith traded up from 25th to 12th to acquire Cleveland’s first-round pick to select Watson. It was the greatest trade in franchise history — for four seasons, at least.
As the Giants’ new general manager, Smith would have 10 draft choices, including the fifth and seventh overall picks in the first round.
Perhaps Caserio could persuade Smith to deal the Giants’ seventh pick in the first round as well as draft choices in the second and third rounds. They could complete the trade for picks in 2023 and 2024, if necessary.
The Texans would have the third and seventh overall picks, two high selections in the second round, three in the third round and five more in later rounds. That would give Caserio 12 picks, and we can be sure he would orchestrate some more deals.
As for the Giants, not only would they have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, one who’s 26 and beginning a $156 million contract extension, but they’d also retain the fifth overall pick, a selection in the third round and five more in later rounds.
Now, open your eyes and stop dreaming.
Unfortunately for the Texans, Smith being hired as the Giants’ new general manager to replace the retired Dave Gettleman looks like a pipe dream.
Based on what’s being reported about the Giants’ search, Smith isn’t among the list of nine candidates they’ve interviewed or have lined up to interview.
And that’s too bad. Smith deserves a second chance to oversee a personnel department and hire another coach. And, of course, it won’t be Bill O’brien.
No matter who gets the Giants’ job, Caserio should call and see if the Giants are interested in Watson rather than continuing with Daniel Jones entering his fourth season.
Jones, the sixth overall pick in 2019, missed the last five games because of a neck injury. He has a 12-25 record as a starter, including 4-7 this season when he finished with 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and an 84.8 rating.
The Giants plan to hire the general manager first and then allow him to oversee the search for a coach to replace Joe Judge, the former New England special-teams coordinator who was fired after two seasons.
Maybe the new general manager and coach would be open to a deal for Watson because he’d solve their quarterback issues for 10 to 15 years.
Watson still has a lot of legal
hurdles he must overcome, starting with another attempt to reach settlements on the 22 civil lawsuits filed against him for sexual misconduct and assault.
No team is willing to pay a steep price for Watson until his legal situation is clarified. He has yet to be deposed and also has investigations being conducted by Houston police and the NFL.
The Giants, Vikings and Bears have openings for general manager. Smith hasn’t been mentioned among Minnesota’s candidates. The Vikings also have Kirk Cousins carrying a $45 million salary cap hit in the last year of his contract.
Smith is being mentioned in Chicago as a possible replacement for the fired Ryan Pace, who traded up in the first round last year to select quarterback Justin Fields 11th overall.
As a rookie, Fields was 2-8 as a starter with seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 73.2 rating.
No matter who becomes the Bears’ general manager and head coach, they better be on board with Fields as their quarterback going into next season. They’re also hamstrung when it comes to high draft choices because of the Fields trade.
Meanwhile, the Watson camp continues to navigate the legal system while he continues to work out in hopes of a trade.
Of the teams that showed the most interest before the Nov. 2 trade deadline, Miami and Denver need new head coaches before they can worry about a possible trade for Watson.
It’s being spun in Miami that owner Stephen Ross was not the driving force behind the Dolphins’ pursuit of Watson, that it was all former coach Brian Flores — a candidate to replace David Culley.
The truth is Ross wanted Watson almost as much as Flores but nixed the deal when Watson couldn’t persuade all of his 22 accusers to reach settlements before the deadline.
If Watson wants to play next season, it’s no secret around the NFL he needs to settle the civil suits.
Watson rejected Philadelphia’s interest in a trade. After the way the Eagles were blown out by Tampa Bay in the wildcard round, perhaps they’ll try a second time.
Carolina is another possible destination for Watson.at this point, nobody knows if Watson would exercise his no-trade clause if Caserio wanted to trade him to the Panthers.
It’s being floated on social media if Caserio hires Flores, Watson might want to return to the Texans. That ship sailed so long ago you can’t even see it on the horizon.