Deshaun Watson Trade To WFT? Inside The Gossip

If you are a fan of the Washington Football Team, you likely see your roster with clarity. WFT is a star QB away from something very special.

And, if you are fan – or a media person, holding up a barstool and kicking around fun ideas – you can see they same.

And then along comes a rumor. “Deshaun Watson wants to get traded!” And the fun really kicks in.

Then you sober up. You re-read Florio’s “report.” And you gain additional clarity.

Can Watson get traded? Sure. He can. That is something that is possible to execute. Does he want to get traded, as a gossipy new story suggests? Houston Texans fans (and fans of every team that rightly covets him) should be less “sure” there.

Is he going to get traded? No. That’s not happening.

Is he unhappy? OK, there’s something …

UPDATE: While we still take issue with the Pro Football Talk assertion that this is going to lead to a Watson trade demand (Houston is not trading him), both Rapoport and Schefter are now noting that the QB is unhappy about being excluded from the GM decision-making process.

And indeed, if this organization promised Watson that he was going to have a voice … and then he learned about the Caserio hiring via social media? The Texans goofed. Again.

Pro Football Talk authored the rumor-filled post early Thursday, suggesting Watson has talked to teammates about requesting a trade. Writer Mike Florio speculated Watson might be trying to flex his muscles to make sure a head coach is hired that meets with the QB’s approval.

Before we detail what we know as fact, let’s dismiss briefly the tone of the PFT report: “Rumors already are circulating” is not “news.” “We’ve already heard them from multiple different people” is an odd thing to write after just saying that “they’re circulating.” And when Florio then punctuates it all by starting his next paragraph by writing, “If that’s happening …”

What does PFT mean “if”? How can PFT report that it has first-hand accounts of the rumors and then skirt that by saying the concept of rumors amount to an “if”?

For our tastes, that’s a bit loose, journalistically, considering “Deshaun Demands Trade” would be quite possibly the biggest NFL story of the year.

So let’s deal not with gossipy “if”s that border on irresponsible reporting to instead focus on boots-on-the-ground facts: What do we know about the situation Watson is in for the Texans?

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– His contract doesn’t make the trade impossible, despite its wealthy nature. A trade costs the Texans $21.6 million in a cap charge. Despite not severely affecting the cap, it does lower the team’s cap space by almost $6 million.

Houston is a cash-strapped team needing every penny to turn the situation around. Financially, a trade would be a poor idea.

– Watson has been consulted on the head coaching hires. It’s never been confirmed he was asked about the general manager, but it would stand to reason multiple conversations with chairman Cal McNair covered that topic as well.

– Watson is less than one year removed from going to bat for Bill O’Brien after the debacle in Kansas City. He could have made waves, potentially enough to have the Texans looking for a coach a year ago, but instead, he stuck behind the head coach.

Watson has established himself as a loyalty guy, to the team and to the city. And … Almost every potential candidate is an upgrade over O’Brien.

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– Organizational chaos was present when Watson signed his extension before the 2020 season – meaning the QB is accustomed to dealing with it … and to wishing to be part of the solution to it.

GM Nick Caserio’s six-year contract proves stability is coming from one of the key spots. He’s on-paper better than Bill O’Brien as a general manager.

The only way Caserio could be worse is to cave to the flimsy rumor of a Watson trade demand.

– How can Watson be upset with the team before any work has been done? It doesn’t make sense to claim the organization lacks foundation and needs a leader … and then before any ink is dry on putting those pieces in place, he changes his mind, in the span of hours, and decides that he wants no part of it anymore.

The timeline of rumored disappointment doesn’t feel real.

– There really isn’t a deal that can make the Texans move their quarterback and satisfy anyone associated with the organization. Yes, WFT would be interested. This is “the Michael Jordan of football” in the eyes of many.

Almost every team in the NFL would want him. Which is why Houston would want to keep him. (And keep him happy.)

Florio writes about a Dallas Cowboys/Herschel Walker’ type deal. But there’s a reason that sort of trade hasn’t happened in 30 years.

Rumors can be false. Playing “The Telephone Game” by reporting “he told a teammate who told someone else who said he might want to get traded” feels like the appropriate assessment of the PFT “story.”

There is nothing in Deshaun Watson’s nature or in Deshaun Watson’s actions that support the notions suggested in this report. PFT concludes its story by writing, “Keep an eye on the possibility that Watson will respond by making it known privately, and possibly publicly, that he’s ready to move on and move out.”

Washington followers can “keep an eye” on this if we wish – But as some “barstool fun,” not as a legitimate news report. … because this simply cannot at this time be characterized as that.