If there is one situation that almost everyone in the NFL is going to see in this off-season, it is the Texas-sized stalemate in Houston between Deshaun Watson and the Texans. After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Texans, Watson made it clear that he does not want to return to Houston for a fifth season. The Texan quarterback is so adamant about leaving that he has already demanded an exchange.
The only problem in this situation is that no one seems to know for sure where they want to go, which is really a huge factor, because the quarterback has a no-trade clause, which means that he can cancel any deal if he involves a team that he doesn’t want to play.
Although there was a report that Watson wants to play for the Jets or Dolphins, that information did not come from Watson himself. However, we may have just gotten our first glimpse of who Watson would be willing to play.
During an interview with TMZ this week, Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson, who spent two seasons with Watson in Houston (2017-18), said he spoke to the quarterback recently and that Watson seemed interested in playing for the Broncos.
“I had a few conversations with him,” said Jackson. “Only with him saying that Denver is a place he is interested in landing.”
That’s a very fascinating statement, just because we haven’t really heard much from Watson about where he might want to land. Also, it seems like a good thing for the Broncos that Jackson and Watson be friends, because the defense has definitely been doing its best to recruit Watson to Denver.
The Broncos were supposedly one of the teams that was in Matthew Stafford’s draw, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them try and land Watson and if that happens, Jackson thinks they would become an instant candidate.
“I mean, if Deshaun Watson goes anywhere, they will automatically be candidates,” said Jackson. “If he has parts around him, he is an automatic candidate.”
Watson’s idea of landing in Denver may not be so crazy. According to Mike Klis of 9News Denver, who knows the team well, the Broncos are planning to make a move for Watson. Although Texas general manager Nick Caserio insisted that his team is not going to switch Watson, the fact is that he may not have a choice and if the Broncos or any other team decides to make a big offer, he will probably do take it in instead of clinging to a disgruntled Watson.
The Broncos currently have Drew Lock as a defender, but it looks like almost everyone in Denver would be excited to be able to update in position and Watson would definitely be an upgrade.
If Watson doesn’t end up in Denver, he’ll probably end up somewhere other than Houston and if you want to check out a list of 13 possible locations for the Texas quarterback, click here.