Texans are ready to trade Deshaun Watson

Reports indicated that Deshaun Watson may very well have played his final snap as quarterback of the Houston Texans.

Less than six months ago, the Houston Texans locked in quarterback Deshaun Watson to a massive five-year contract extension. But after a disastrous season, the Texans managed to destroy their relationship with the face of the franchise. From not taking his general manager picks into consideration to not initially requesting an interview with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy or former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Watson has had enough of the Texans. And it appears they might grant his wish.

According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, multiple sources inside the Texans organization believe that Watson has played his final snap with the team. Additionally, a source told ESPN’s Sarah Barshop that the Texans have had internal discussions about potential trade partners and how the quarterback position would look like with Watson moving to another team.

A matter of when, not if, Watson gets traded?

Watson’s new contract comes with a full no-trade clause, meaning he has the final say where he can be traded to. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Miami Dolphins are his preferred destination because of head coach Brian Flores and the fact that Florida has no state taxes.

Watson was peeved at team owner Cal McNair, who promised he would take his general manager candidates into consideration. The thing is, McNair didn’t even speak with the prospective executives, instead choosing to hire Nick Caserio of the New England Patriots, who came on the recommendation of executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby.

Easterby has come under fire for the amount of sway he carries inside the organization, despite previously serving as a character coach on the Patriots. In fact, New England head coach Bill Belichick has said Easterby is “not a personnel person.” Former wide receiver Andre Johnson tweeted out this past week that nothing good has happened in the organization since Easterby arrived and urged Watson to stand his ground.

To realize how bad the situation truly is, a source close to Watson told Mortensen that not even the Texans firing Easterby would convince him to stay in Houston.

Watson’s market is going to be a vast one due to the amount of teams that are in need of a quality starting quarterback. Even though those opposing teams hold the advantage in trade negotiations due to Watson’s lack of desire to play in Houston, they’ll likely have to surrender an extravagant draft package to acquire the quarterback.

We’re officially on Deshaun Watson trade watch for the offseason. Buckle your seatbelts, because it’s going to be a bumpy, stress-filled ride.