We sat a little over a week before the Super Bowl LV, which features two of the greatest defenders of all time.
It is another quarterback, however, who is the subject of the football world: Deshaun Watson.
The Houston Texans star requesting a negotiation started the Speculation Season just before the course of a normal year. But with the cat out of the bag, let’s zoom in on the Rumor Trail.
Apart from a handful of NFL teams, most clubs should at least consider making a call to Watson. With a no-trade clause, Watson holds the final advantage in his potential destination. However, most clubs would at least measure the temperature of a potential deal.
A club that appears to be near the top of the list of applicants: the Carolina Panthers.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday in NFL NOW that the Panthers will be “aggressive” in pursuit of the 25-year-old QB.
“Don’t sleep in the Carolina Panthers,” said Rapoport. “They are a team that, I am told, will be aggressive towards acquiring Deshaun Watson.”
Panthers have a lot to like. It is a relatively young list with room to grow. There are young stallions in defense (Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn). The attack has high caliber weapons (Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, Robby Anderson).
Matt Rhule is an intelligent and motivational trainer who could fit in well with Watson. The coach also sent strong signals this offseason that he would like to improve QB’s position after a game of ups and downs by Teddy Bridgewater in 2020. We would assume that Rhule would be pushing to acquire Watson.