Deshaun Watson has pecking order of teams he’d like to play for

Quarterback Deshaun Watson, unhappy with his situation with the Houston Texans, apparently has a ranking for which new team he’d like to play: He really wants to move to the AFC East. But he prefers to play for the New York Jets. And, second, he’d like to play for the Miami Dolphins.

In that order.

Watson this week told people the Jets are his top preference among the teams he’d like to be traded to because they hired Robert Saleh as head coach and Watson values Saleh so much he wanted the Texans to interview him for their vacant head coach job. Watson confirmed reports, circulated for several weeks in national media, he’d also welcome playing for the Dolphins but said that is his second choice at this time.

Watson was in New York in recent days, but it’s not clear if his time there had anything to do with football. The Jets are headquartered in New Jersey and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross lives in New York, but it would be tampering for them to speak or meet with Watson without permission.

Saleh, who was the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers the past four seasons, is a favorite of many players around the league.

The Jets and the Dolphins have incumbent QBS, but neither Sam Darnold in New York nor Tua Tagovailoa in Miami are proven stars, nor have they performed anywhere close to the level that Watson has for the Texans. Tagovailoa was named the team’s 2021 starter by general manager Chris Grier two weeks ago, but Darnold has gotten no such certainty in New York from Saleh.