The Texans have begun to “soften” their asking price for embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. With the trade deadline approaching, it’s possible that Watson could be dealt in the next month. 

“Watson made it clear he does not want to play for the Houston Texans,” Glazer said during today’s telecast. “But it’s interesting because while we went into this season, the Texans were not really fielding phone calls. They weren’t open to trade talks unless somebody was going to give them a ridiculous trade offer – more than six draft picks. They’ve already been offered three ones and three threes. However, I was told this past week their stance started to soften a little bit with that.”

The Dolphins remain the “obvious” trade partner for Watson, though owner Stephen Ross seems to be deferring to his less-enthused front office for now. At last check, the Texans had some substantial offers for Watson, though interested clubs want those picks to have conditions attached. Namely, safeguards that would lessen the blow if Watson is suspended or parked on the Commissioner’s Exempt List.

As it stands, Watson could immediately play for any team that trades for him. Still, that could change any minute, pending the outcome of his 22 lawsuits, 10+ police complaints, or the whim of the league office.

No surprise here. Despite Tyrod Taylor‘s injury, head coach David Culley says the Texans will not play Deshaun Watson this week (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

[RELATED: Tyrod Taylor Suffers Hamstring Injury]

Rookie Davis Mills will start on Thursday night when the Texans take on the Panthers. Taylor could be out for more than just one week, of course, but the Texans are awaiting word from doctors on his timeline. Without Taylor, the Browns beat the Texans 31-21. Mills finished the day going 8-of-18 for 102 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Taylor, meanwhile, completed 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards and one TD before he was forced to the sideline.

After the game, Culley declined to say whether Watson could wind up on the 53-man roster. In theory, Watson could be activated as the clipboard holder, but it’d be a shock to see him take the field given the Texans’ stance thus far. To our knowledge, the Texans’ position has not changed — they are willing to trade Watson if another team is willing to forfeit a massive haul of draft picks with zero conditions attached. Otherwise, GM Nick Caserio is ready to pay Watson to not play in 2021 and reevaluate things next year.

The Texans rejected an offer of three first-round draft picks for Deshaun Watson just prior to the draft in April, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (h/t The Houston Chronicle). In theory, that’s pretty close to the team’s reported ask of three first rounders plus second rounders and/or starting-caliber veterans.

[RELATED: Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross ‘Really Wants’ Deshaun Watson?]

There were four teams that were really interested in Watson at one point this offseason, Glazer hears. However, at this point, “most of them have all dropped out.” The Dolphins have been heavily linked to Watson as of late, though there are conflicting reports on their level of interest. While owner Stephen Ross may be high on Watson, two team insiders have heard that he won’t impose his will on the front office. Meanwhile, head coach Brian Flores says that Tua Tagovailoa will continue as his starting quarterback.

The pre-draft offer (and rejection) is certainly notable, but that mystery team may have been offering conditional picks, dependent on Watson’s availability. That’s a non-starter for GM Nick Caserio, who is willing to pay Watson to do nothing in 2021.

Watson is still on the roster, but not on the field. So far, that’s working out just fine for the Texans. On Sunday, Tyrod Taylor led Houston to a 37-21 win over the Jaguars.

The Texans will start Tyrod Taylor under center for Sunday’s season opener against the Jaguars. With that in mind, GM Nick Caserio tells Sports Radio 610 that he “wouldn’t expect” embattled star Deshaun Watson to take the field in Week 1 (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). 

There’s no secret that the Texans would like to move on from Watson altogether, For his part, the quarterback also wants out. However, Caserio is unwilling to take pennies on the dollar for the talented quarterback. Before the allegations, the Texans received offers including three first-round picks. Now, there are still offers with picks on the table, but clubs want those picks to be conditional based on Watson’s availability to play. For now, the Texans aren’t willing to accept such contingencies.

Watson would reportedly prefer a trade to the Dolphins but would not veto a deal that sends him to the Panthers. For now, he’s getting neither, and it’s not clear if the Dolphins have much interest in him. Owner Stephen Ross may want Watson in Miami, but other reports say that he is unwilling to impose his will on the front office. Meanwhile, head coach Brian Flores has backed Tua Tagovailoa as his starter.

That all leaves Watson on the bench behind both Taylor and rookie Davis Mills. Unless something changes, the Texans will pay Watson $10.54MM to ride the pine this year.

The Texans are not expected to trade Deshaun Watson before today’s 4pm ET/3pm CT roster deadline, sources tell Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). Barring something unexpected, the Texans are poised to keep him into the regular season and, possibly, for the entire year.

This jibes with recent word that the Texans are willing to have Watson on the 53-man roster and inactive every week moving forward. Before the allegations, the Texans received offers including three first-round picks. Now, there are still offers with picks on the table, but clubs want those picks to be conditional based on Watson’s availability to play. For now, the Texans aren’t willing to accept such contingencies.

Watson would reportedly prefer a trade to the Dolphins but would not veto a deal that sends him to the Panthers. For now, he’s getting neither — the Texans are set to pay him $10.54MM to not play for them this season.

It doesn’t look like a Deshaun Watson trade is imminent, and it certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be playing for the Texans anytime soon. A third, and perhaps most likely, option has now emerged.

Houston is “prepared to have Deshaun Watson on the 53-man roster and inactive every week,” sources told veteran NFL writer Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). That echoes the sentiment from Albert Breer of SI.com, who has some additional details. Notably, Breer reports that “packages involving three first-round picks (and then some) were discussed by interested teams,” before the sexual harassment allegations against Watson came to light.

Breer says, like we’ve heard before, that teams now want to make any draft picks traded for Watson conditional based on his availability to play. Breer writes that he hasn’t “gotten any indication that the Texans are willing to tie their return to those sorts of contingencies,” leading us to the current impasse.

To make it even more firm, Michael Lombardi of The Athletic tweets that Houston “has no intentions of trading Watson” right now, and that the team “turned down a huge offer” from a rival franchise over the summer.

If interested teams and the Texans are both locked in on those positions, which makes perfect sense, Houston holding on to Watson until his off-field issues are resolved would seem to be the logical move.

One reason the Texans might be incentivized to hold out until the offseason would be that they would know the precise value of any 2022 draft picks they were trading for, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network points out (Twitter video link). They wouldn’t have to guess about where their trade partner would end up in the draft order.

On the other hand, Rapsheet also points out that there’s no guarantee the civil (and potentially criminal) proceedings against Watson are wrapped up by the spring either. Even still, it now sounds like the Texans paying Watson $10.54MM to not play for them in 2021 might be the likeliest scenario.