According to a new report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Deshaun Watson has two teams “on his radar” for a potential trade. Watson still wants out of Houston and is eyeing several teams ahead of the 2022 season, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings, according to a report Wednesday by Jeremy Fowler.
Fowler said those two franchises are on Watson’s “radar” since he has began evaluating potential fits for his services.
It’s not hard to see why the Tampa Bay Bucs would be in the fold as their current quarterback situation entering the 2022 season following the retirement of Tom Brady includes 11-year veteran Blaine Gabbert and second-year player Kyle Trask. Gabbert is set to become a free agent in March while Tampa Bay is “high on” Trask, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
As for the Vikings, Kirk Cousins is heading into his final season with Vikings and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
The former Clemson quarterback did not play last season as his situation involving 22 sexual harassment lawsuits played out. A potential Watson trade could restock the Texans with plenty of future assets as they look to rebuild.
“Some clarity on the legal front is coming in the next several weeks,” Tom Pelissero said. “Multiple teams are willing to offer three first-round picks and more for Watson back before the trade deadline Expect the (Miami) Dolphins, (Carolina) Panthers and others to be involved.”
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Watson’s agent David Mulugheta is “super confident” in how the situation plays out.
“There’s legal reasons we can’t expound on it right now the way we’d like to,” Mulugheta said in an interview earlier this year with ESPN’s Ryan Clark, via the Houston Chronicle. “But the one thing I can say is I know who Deshaun is, I think people around the NFL know who Deshaun is. That’s the reason the market for Deshaun was still as hot as it was. … I think anybody who’s met Deshaun knows who he is. We know what the truth is and that’s a good thing about the truth — no matter what, the truth is the truth. Whether it takes one day or two days or a year to come out, the truth is the truth.”
What’s stopping teams from trading for Watson, aside from his legal issues, is the could ultimately suspend Watson if it decides he violated its personal code of conduct policy.
“(In) today’s society, unfortunately it’s not about who’s right, it’s about who’s first,” Mulugheta said. “So it’s unfortunate but as somebody who’s considered … a public figure (there’s) certain things you’ve got to deal with. It’s unfortunate but we’ll deal with it.”
