Quiet time: Patience with Watson smart play
Texans realize there’s no point to rush trade when hope still exists
The Texans are getting this part right.
Going quiet.
Not picking up the phone. Professionally saying no by refusing to consider trade offers for Deshaun Watson.
Maybe at some point things publicly get so bad between Watson and Houston’s NFL team that the best and smartest move for the Texans is to enter a massive rebuild that begins with D4 being traded away.
But that time hasn’t arrived yet, and the Texans must receive a “Godfather”-like offer they can’t refuse before Watson’s time inside NRG Stadium is over way too soon.
It took way too long — David Carr, Matt Schaub, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler, Tom Savage — just to wrap Watson in red and blue. Nothing in the official NFL rule book says the Texans must trade the 25-year-old franchise quarterback less than five months after he happily agreed to a four-year, $156 million extension that deepened his connection with the team and its fans. And unless the next front-office call to NRG promises four future first-round draft picks, a starting QB and a young defensive star, there’s absolutely no reason the Texans should feel any pressure to deal Watson in early February just to make “sources close to Watson” happy.
Free agency is more than a month away.
The annual draft isn’t until late April.
Heck, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes haven’t even played Super Bowl LV yet.
Everyone wants an answer now. A calm resolution or an earth-shattering divide. But the biggest trade in Texans (and NFL?) history deserves all the time it requires — if it eventually happens.
The DeAndre Hopkins-forpeanuts swap continues to haunt the Texans, and that instant disaster helped set the foundation for Watson’s frustration.
The still inexplicable blockbuster occurred March 16 last year. One of the reasons the Texans gave when they traded Hopkins was they were afraid he would hold out for more money. But that explanation still doesn’t make sense — logical or financial — since the 2020 Texans didn’t play their season opener until Sept. 10 at Kansas City and Hopkins was months away from a potential training camp holdout.
No one in the NFL holds out in March. And I mean no one. Because there is nothing to hold out from.
You, your dog, your neighbor and your entire neighborhood instantly knew the Texans didn’t get enough for Hopkins, setting back the 2020 team and squads that will follow. His trade market wasn’t maximized, and the Texans anxiously gave away one of the best wide receivers in the NFL instead of slow-playing the drama and either trying to work it out with Hopkins or finally dealing him after the entire league knew he was available for a lofty price.
The 2021 Texans must learn something from the horrible 2020 Hopkins trade. If Watson is eventually dealt, repeatedly saying no now is the best way to get it right in March, April or August.
“Organizationally, just want to reiterate our commitment to Deshaun Watson,” new general manager Nick Caserio said last week. “He’s had a great impact on this organization, a great impact on a lot of people, a great impact on this team, and we look forward to the opportunity to spend more time with him here this spring once we get started.”
Other than tinkering with his social-media branding and randomly tweeting cryptic lyrics, Watson still hasn’t publicly said anything about new coach David Culley, Caserio, his future with the Texans or his overly reported frustration with the franchise.
Does that mean the situation can still be improved and then fixed? Is the reportedly unsalvageable actually salvageable?
Or has the long, cold wait already begun while the real battle still awaits?
The only certainty for the Texans right now is that saying no is the right answer.
Replacing Watson with Derek Carr is laughable. Not because Carr isn’t a solid NFL QB still with upside. But because Watson is already one of the league’s best field generals, still has Super Bowl upside and is under contract through 2025.
Any chance to reach out to Watson, directly or indirectly, also must be maximized. He spent almost his entire Texans career going out of his way to stand up for his team and teammates, consistently choosing optimism when others offered criticism or negativity.
“Oh, for sure. That’s very important,” Watson said Dec. 2 when asked about the Texans keeping No. 1 wide receiver Will Fuller in 2021. “Definitely one guy that I’m going to be working on this last month and offseason for sure.”
I wonder what Fuller is thinking now.
Watson’s once-in-a-lifetime market will develop. The D4 contenders will angle, scheme, leak, tease and play off each other via the media, only driving Watson’s price higher.
The Texans can keep saying no until they finally say yes to a franchise-changing blockbuster that ignites a rebuild.
Or they can find a way to cut through all the drama and reconnect with a QB who was supposed to lead the Texans to their first Super Bowl.