The ongoing legal situation for Deshaun Watson has not only stopped everything pertaining to him possibly being traded, but caused his trade value around the NFL to plummet.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said the Houston Texans star’s trade value has “cratered” in the wake of him having 22 civil lawsuits against him. Earlier this month, the Houston Police Department announced it has opened an investigation into Watson after a complaint was filed against him. Last month, the NFL said they were conducting their on investigation into the allegations against Watson under the personal conduct policy.
“The league closely evaluated all the documentation and the proceedings from last week, including the back-and-forth between Rusty Hardin and Tony Buzbee,” ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said. “But I’m told that as far as an immediate action, there might not be anything for a while. A source told me that the commissioner exempt list, which Roger Goodell sometimes uses for players who have had off-field issues who have to stay away from their team until they come to a decision on a suspension — I’m told they wouldn’t use that until closer to the season if they do use it because there really isn’t anything to be exempt from right now.
“Voluntary workouts are coming up but that’s a little bit different. As far as his trade talk, that has cratered right now. From people I’ve talked to around the league, it’s just too heavy of a story to try and trade for Watson right now.”
On Friday, a Harris county judge ordered that Tony Buzbee to refile a sexual assault case against Watson with the name of the accuser made public.
Houston owner Cal McNair said the franchise is taking allegations of sexual assault surrounding their franchise quarterback “very seriously” in a recent letter to season ticket-holders.
Watson has spent his entire NFL career with the Texans after being selected No. 12 overall in the 2017 draft.
