With speculation increasing the two sides may reach a settlement in the legal case against Deshaun Watson, chances are seemingly increasing that the Houston Texans quarterback would play this fall if cleared.
If his sexual assault lawsuit is settled, like many project, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio expects Watson’s trade value to rise once again.
“The moment these cases are settled, if it happens, that’s when the land rush begins for the Deshaun Watson contract,” Florio said last week on The Rich Eisen Show. “The Texans Amy still get a decent return. Even thought this litigation took a lot of the steam out of the talk of — somebody had told me at one point, three first-round picks … if you get two, three, four teams at the table, then the value gets pumped back into this potential trade.
“I know Peter’s (King) got the teams he’s put on the shortlist, I’d put the Dolphins and Eagles at the top. The Eagles are one we’ve been saying for weeks now, desperately want a franchise QB and yes they want to give Jalen Hurts an opportunity to show he’s the guy, but if they have an opportunity to get a guy who’s shown he can do it and have him for 10 years, they’ll aggressively try to make it happen.”
Because of that, FanSided NFL columnist Matt Lombardo has dropped his latest piece where he cited recent conversations with league executives about Watson’s future. According to Lombardo, three teams are still being heavily linked to the 25-year-old signal caller.
“Three teams that repeatedly came up in conversations with multiple executives were the Washington Football Team and Las Vegas Raiders, and Miami Dolphins as potential destinations for Watson,” Lombardo wrote.
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In any trade for Watson, a young QB and draft picks would have to return to the Texans, which means the Miami Dolphins would be leading the pack with having Tua Tagovailoa and plenty of draft capital.
The Washington Football Team probably has the worst QB room with veteran starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, and Steven Montez on their roster.
The Las Vegas Raiders have Derek Carr coming off one of his best seasons in 2020, but he is 4 years older than Watson.
