We heard last week that the Dolphins and Texans had agreed on compensation for a Deshaun Watson trade. Days later, and the move still hasn’t been made. Miami reportedly wanted a bit more clarity on the passer’s legal situation before green-lighting a trade. However, there may be another explanation for why negotiations have stalled.
Per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, the Texans have “caught wind of the growing possibility that the 22 civil lawsuits” against Watson would be settled. Since there would be no legal uncertainty, the Texans front office raised their asking price. According to Florio, “the increased demands caused the talks to crater.”
The Texans have continually been seeking at least three first-round picks for Watson, and last week’s report indicated that Miami was willing to meet that part of the deal. However, the two sides were still negotiating the other pieces in the trade; Houston reportedly is also seeking multiple second-round selections. It’s uncertain if Watson’s legal clarity forced the Texans to double down on their asking price…or perhaps request even more.
The NFL has not interviewed Watson, and his deposition in the civil suit is not slated to occur until after Super Bowl LVI. This has created a gray area, one that sets up the unusual and optically problematic prospect of Watson playing for another team this season before facing a lengthy suspension in 2022. Watson is not expected to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, and Roger Goodell confirmed Tuesday night the NFL does not have enough information on these cases to place Watson on the list, via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
We’ll have a resolution on a trade (or non-trade) by tomorrow afternoon. It sounds like both owners are in favor of a deal; Texans owner Cal McNair wants to put the matter behind him, while Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been one of the organization’s main proponents for a Watson trade. Meanwhile, Texans GM Nick Casersio is unwilling to trade Watson for anything less than what he perceives to be maximum value, and that could end up being the factor that prevents a trade from taking place by the deadline.
The Texans never fail to disappoint. Just when you think they couldn’t possibly handle this situation any worse, they do.
The deadline needs to come and go so this is no longer a story! Stick with Tua and build around your mistake…
Money talks, merit walks
I suspect Watson has given rather a lot of dollars to make this all Go Away…
Lawyers + settlements probably going to be very expensive
Just goes to show how low owners will go to make money. Gruden out for using words but, sex offenders and murderers are AOK! The NFL seems to like sex offenders [Big Ben]…and murderers…
The NFL didn’t suspend Gruden. I don’t know of any murderer that is playing in the NFL
Big Ben was accused, not charged, as there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations. But obviously one is presumed guilty until proven innocent in your world. Having worked in professional sports, do you know how many of these accusations are made yet never even make headlines because of hush money paid out? A District Attorney who investigates a professional athlete in these situations will not pass on the opportunity to pursue charges that can be PROVEN. It’s a career changer for the DA so they aren’t going to “go easy” on him because he’s a pro athlete. More heinous incidents involving Tyreek Hill, Ray Rice, and Kareem Hunt to name a few have been met with far less criticism and judgment than Big Ben. Hill, Rice, and Hunt have had multiple incidents each, yet 2 of the 3 remain active in the NFL. Rice never played again, and rightly so, based on the video evidence in his case but his fiancée and now wife declined to pursue and cooperate with the investigation so the DA’s hands were tied. All violence against women, children, and people in general should be condemned, but when an investigation is completed and a DA declines to pursue based on the evidence presented, then let it go already.
If they can get three firsts they r quite silly to not take it.
Especially given the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the legal cases. A suspension by the commissioner is one thing, a jail sentence is something else altogether.
I agree, which is why I’m doubting they got an offer of three firsts. If they got that, would they really hold out for an additional 2nd or two? Seems unlikely.
Both owners want it done. I think the Texans are playing hard to get to try and get Miami to blink. But if both owners want it done, you have to believe it’ll get done.
On a side note, doesn’t this mirror Draft Day in a way? Obviously, they’re not trading picks, but if you think of Watson as the first overall pick, it’s three first rounders for that one pick. They agreed (reportedly) on compensation, but now Houston wants more. Maybe they’re holding out for Miami’s punter.
ive always thought it sounded strange that he never got in trouble to this exstinct until he asked for a trade no woman came forward until he wanted out and now Houston wants if they think he might have a chance at playing this year for someone else it’s simply pathetic
Cool sentence
You’re right, ramble on young man! I’m just waiting for the real truth to be exposed that the team conspired with two dozen otherwise unrelated women to expose his behavior all in an effort to yank his trade value. SMH
OH I think his story is the tip of the iceberg… I think they knew about this since it started happening. He’s NOT the only player doing stupid things… he’s just the guy they exposed because YES he wanted out so they are going to make him pay. They had a solid team a couple years ago then players started bailing left and right…. tells me that organization has MAJOR problems that they refuse to fix.
Meanwhile the Chargers still don’t believe how incompetent the Dolphins are.
Im so hoping to be ordering my #4 phinz jersey by 4pm. So tired of losing
Except there are two women who have criminal complaints on him that didn’t want money..those haven’t gone away…it’s just not as easy as him settling the civil cases
Why o
Why would anyone take a guy with that many issues? Talented or not? The demand is way too high! Next year the demands will drop as he will still not want to play for Texans. Don’t give up future for this!