FALCON POINTS

Let's discuss if this is the right time to pay Deshaun Watson

Fred Faour
May 14, 2020, 6:55 am
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The Texans are reportedly working on an extension for quarterback Deshaun Watson, one that is surely to make him one of the highest paid players in the league.

Watson is clearly the face of the franchise (well, when Bill O'Brien isn't forcing himself out front) and a player the Texans should lock up. However, is now the right time?

Watson is scheduled to make $4.4 million in 2020, less than kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn. He would make just over $17 million in the final year of his deal in 2021, and the Texans could conceivably franchise him for another year. While Watson deserves to get paid, perhaps it should happen after the 2020 season, not before.

Houston is almost in the same boat as Dallas, which is trying to lock up Dak Prescott long-term. Prescott has been tagged for just over $31 million in 2020. The Cowboys Stephen Jones is aware of what paying big money means.

"There's all sorts of analytics out there that show if your quarterback takes up too big a percentage of your salary cap, that it decreases your chances to win," Jones said.

While there are some that would dispute that, the concern is real. Tie up too much of your cap, and there is not enough money to place talent around your quarterback. You could argue the Cowboys have better pieces around Prescott than the Texans do Watson.

In both cases, the players deserve their money. But with Watson, waiting might make more sense. The big concern is how much the salary cap world will change in the Ronaverse. If you lock up Watson now at 2019 money, the possibilities of it taking up a massive amount of cap space increase. While many speculate the cap will still go up due to TV dollars even if massive revenue is lost due to lack of fans, hoping that happens is foolish. TV dollars are based on the potential for ad sales. Is it a guarantee that money will be there in the future?

Pre-Rona, yes, you lock up Watson at whatever the cost. But with the future uncertain for both sports and the economy, would waiting a year really be a bad idea? Sure, Watson could increase his value, but by how much? A few million a year? If he does that, you don't mind paying. It means you probably made a Super Bowl, although that seems unlikely considering the limitations of his coaching staff.

But if the cap drops drastically, it would deflate the market. Watson would still get paid big money, but at a more realistic rate. The Texans would have no problem shedding cap in 2021 to give him a big raise then. Theoretically, they could do that now, certainly, and still be able to field a competitive team. There are always ways to stay under the cap, even if it plummets dramatically in 2021. But with an uncertain future for both sports and the economy, is this really the time?

Waiting a year might be the prudent move. Let's see if the Texans actually do it.

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Houston Texans can't overcome critical mistakes, refs in loss to Chiefs

Chiefs defeat the Texans, 23-14. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud just about had to be scraped off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium by the time the Kansas City Chiefs had sacked him for the eighth time Saturday, the Houston quarterback's jersey stretched and torn and covered in grass and mud.

It pretty much summed up another trip to the divisional round of the playoffs for the Texans.

They rode a roller-coaster of brilliant performances and bitter flops into the postseason, but seemed to be gathering some momentum in the wild-card round, when they soundly beat the Chargers in a game many expected them to lose.

But that performance last weekend merely set up a showdown with the Chiefs, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, who had beaten Houston just last month and never seems to lose at this point in the season.

And with Patrick Mahomes finding Travis Kelce wide open all day and Kansas City's pass rush making life miserable for Stroud, the Chiefs methodically pieced together a 23-14 victory to deny the Texans a spot in the AFC championship game yet again.

They've had six tries to get through the divisional round. They have failed all six times.

Two of them have been in Kansas City.

Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the game on YouTube.

And this one might have been every bit as bitter as the last, when the Texans blew a 24-0 lead in a 51-31 loss in January 2020 that would ultimately catapult Mahomes, Kelce and Chiefs coach Andy Reid to the first of their three Super Bowl titles.

Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 55-yard field goal attempt that would have tied it at 6 late in the first half, but instead gave the Chiefs a short field. Five plays later, Kareem Hunt powered into the end zone for a touchdown.

In the second half, after the Texans spent more than 10 minutes driving 81 yards for a touchdown that should have tied it, Fairbairn missed the PAT in the cold, swirling winds. It not only left the Chiefs clinging to a 13-12 lead but also seemed to sap all the energy and excitement that Stroud, running back Joe Mixon and the rest of the offense had built up.

Kansas City proceeded to drive 81 yards for a touchdown of its own to take a 20-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Texans still had chances to drive for a tying TD. But the first opportunity ended with three straight incompletions by Stroud and one of George Karlaftis' three sacks on fourth down, and the second with back-to-back incompletions and a punt.

By the time the Chiefs added a late field goal, and conceded a safety in the closing seconds, the game was over.

The Texans can still look back on a second consecutive AFC South title and that win over the Chargers. But they still have never won consecutive playoff games in the same season, something that is sure to fester within coach DeMeco Ryans, who was part of the first team to win a playoff game for the franchise when it beat Cincinnati in January 2012.

It also won't sit well with Stroud, who has done just about everything except make it to the AFC championship game.

The 23-year-old starting quarterback — the youngest to face a defending Super Bowl champ in the playoffs — is only the sixth QB to win a playoff game in each of his first two seasons. And he's the first Texans quarterback to win two playoff games.

Yet there was nothing he could do against Kansas City and its ferocious pass rush Saturday.

There wasn't much the rest of the Texans could do against the Chiefs, either.

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