TRADE DEADLINE
All the reasons the Texans should take the trade and run
Nov 2, 2021, 11:43 am
The Texans should move on from Deshaun Watson. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Deshaun Watson after a Houston Texans game
On Sept. 4, 1972, robbers dropped through a skylight at the Montreal Museum of Art – like a real-life Hollywood movie – tied up three guards and stole a rare Rembrandt painting worth millions of dollars.
Not Deshaun Watson millions … but still a fortune. The painting has never been recovered. It's up in the air whether Watson's NFL career can ever be recovered.
I wonder, when thieves steal a valuable painting, what next? I'm guessing the art thieves didn't take the painting for the walls of their luxury country estate appointed with rich Corinthian leather. The thieves need to find a buyer, who'll pay pennies on Rembrandt's dollars to take the painting off their hands. Then the new owner must keep the painting under wraps, it's stolen property. It's not like the owner can flip the painting like Chip and Joanna Gaines or use it to impress guests at a dinner party. The Rembrandt has been rendered worthless to everybody except its secret owner.
The Rembrandt is Deshaun Watson, on paper worth $156 million, but really worthless, at least this season. The owner is Cal McNair. Fans and the media used to ask, how come Hillbilly Cal rarely speaks publicly? Now we know – he's a boob who most recently had to apologize for dropping a racist comment at a fun golf event.
The Texans' reported asking price for Watson is three first-round draft picks plus other assets. Here's what the Texans' asking price should be:
Three first-round draft picks plus other assets … or best offer.
The Texans need to get Watson off their books and out of Houston by 3 p.m. today – the NFL's trade deadline. Watson's legal problems are well documented: 22 civil suits and 10 criminal complaints alleging sexual misconduct. Following the Watson case is like binge watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
The civil suits could go away with the stroke of a pen on some heavy money orders. The criminal complaints are another story. If a grand jury indicts Watson and he stands trial, while unlikely, Watson might be pre-occupied for several years. He could become a registered sex offender with his home address made public on the Internet. That's what you call a hard sell.
Having Rusty Hardin as Watson's lawyer isn't the guaranteed win or stay out of jail card it once was. Last week, Hardin was in court defending a client accused of negligence, gross negligence and vicarious liability in a case involving an injured worker at Bush-Intercontinental Airport. The jury found Harden's client guilty and the client was ordered to pay $352 million in damages.
You can get two Deshaun Watsons and a kicker for that kind of money.
The Texans were rumored to have a deal nearly in place to trade Watson to the Miami Dolphins last week. But the Texans reportedly upped their asking price at the last minute, believing that Watson's civil suits might be settled soon. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reportedly wants Watson's legal problems gone before finalizing a trade.
Here's what the Dolphins' hometown newspaper, the Miami Herald, had to say about a possible trade for Watson:
"The Miami Dolphins need a lesson in denouncing bad behavior more than they need Deshaun Watson." That's not exactly the Welcome Wagon for Watson.
If the Texans can find a team willing to roll the dice on Watson they should take the trade and run. Watson is cryptocurrency, his value could increase next off-season, but it also could go down the toilet.
Does Texans management even realize this team is a flat out embarrassment to Houston? Talk show callers hate owner McNair and despise his puppet master Jack Easterby. First year coach David Culley has that Tom Coughlin befuddled look on the sidelines, making questionable, and since they're losing, dumb calls. He is the Bizarro version of Bum Phillips' famous quote about Bear Bryant: Culley can take his'n and lose to your'n, and then he can turn around and take you'n and lose to his'n.
The Texans have lost seven straight games and their fans have plain stopped caring. NRG Stadium looked like a ghost town last Sunday with the Texans hosting an attractive opponent, the Los Angeles Rams. Season ticket holders are dumping their seats for as low as $12. Or they're eating their tickets because nobody's buying.
Around the country, the Texans are either the worst team in the NFL or darn close to it, with a $156 million alleged sexual predator banished from their game day roster.
And still the Texans act like they're holding all the cards, sticking with their sky-high trade demands for Watson. For the sake of the team, the fans, the city and the Harris County jury pool, the Texans need to move on from Deshaun Watson. Today could be their last best chance.
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NFL insiders hint at eye-opening future for Houston Texans offense
Dec 7, 2024, 2:38 pm
C.J. Stroud faced criticism in Houston's last few games as the Texans hit a rough patch after losing just two of their first eight games.
But the second-year quarterback remained confident and his strong performance last Sunday helped the Texans (8-5) to a 23-20 win over the Jaguars to enter their bye with a two-game lead atop the AFC South.
“When he is leading and playing the way he is playing, our entire team feeds off of him,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I am excited for his second year. I think he is showing a ton of growth, he is in a really great spot for us physically, mentally. I really love where he is and I am excited to see how he comes back after the break.”
Stroud threw for 242 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville to leave him ranked fourth in the NFL with 3,117 yards passing this season. That game came after he threw two interceptions in a 32-27 loss to Tennessee a week before for the team’s third loss in four games.
Those two interceptions brought his season total to nine, which are four more than he threw in 15 games a rookie. But the Texans aren’t worried about that statistic and believe he has grown in his second year.
“He’s made a lot of progress,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “There are some plays, like all of our players, that we probably wish he could have back, but happy he’s our quarterback, happy with what he brings to the table. ... Wouldn’t want anyone else leading this team.”
The Texans are in position to win their division for a second straight season despite dealing with several significant injuries on offense. Running back Joe Mixon missed three games early with an ankle injury and leading receiver Nico Collins was sidelined for five games with a hamstring injury.
They also lost four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs for the season when tore an ACL in Week 8.
Mixon leads the team with 887 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns and has added four touchdown receptions. His work in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati has helped the team deal with those significant injuries to the receiving corps.
Mixon ranks third in the NFL by averaging 88.7 yards rushing a game and has had at least 100 yards rushing in seven games.
Stroud has continually raved about Mixon’s contributions on and off the field.
“He’s a servant, a helper,” Stroud said. “That’s ultimately what I want to be as well. Who can I serve and how can I help? That’s ultimately what the game of football is.”
While Mixon has been the team’s most important new acquisition on offense, Danielle Hunter has been Houston’s new defensive star. The defensive end spent his first eight seasons in Minnesota before joining the Texans this year.
He has helped Houston lead the NFL with 84 tackles for loss after piling up 15 this season, which is tied for third most in the league. He also leads the Texans with 10½ sacks to help them rank second with 42.
Hunter been a great addition to a team that already had defensive end Will Anderson Jr., last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Anderson ranks second to Hunter on the team with 13 tackles for loss and 9½ sacks.
Ryans said this week’s break is much needed for a team that opened the preseason on Aug. 1 in the Hall of Fame game.
“It’s here and we’re going to take advantage of it,” he said. “We’ve been going at it for a long time.”
The Texans need to recharge this week with a brutal stretch of three games in 10 days when they return from their bye. Houston hosts Miami on Dec. 15 before a trip to Kansas City on Dec. 21 and a visit from the Ravens on Christmas Day.
“It’s Christmas and all that, but we can’t worry about that. All we can do is focus on Miami,” Caserio said. “And then when we get through the Miami game, then we kind of turn the page to the next. ... We’re either going to earn it or we’re not. Not to oversimplify it, but that’s the truth.”
The Texans will play those game without starting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair after he received a three-game suspension for his violent hit to the head of Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, which led to a concussion.
Al-Shaair will be eligible to return for Houston’s regular-season finale against Tennessee.