Eric Christian Smith / Associated Press
Houston Texans star Deshaun Watson is “extremely unhappy” with how the search for the team’s general manager worked, according to the NFL Network Ian Rapoport.
Rapoport reported that team owner Cal McNair told Watson that he would have a contribution in the process. However, the hiring of Nick Caserio was done without his consultation, which is Watson’s point of contention, not the change itself.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter provided more context:
“In addition, the Texans did not inform Watson that they intended to hire Caserio and he found out about hiring on social media. This contributed to Watson accessing Twitter that night to post” some things never change … ” […]
“In the last off-season, Houston didn’t let Watson know that the big receiver DeAndre Hopkins would be negotiated, which led to some disappointment. Now that it happened again, Watson said he was infinitely more upset, sources said to ESPN.”
Schefter wrote to Watson that he did not expect Texans to hire his handpicked candidate, but that he “he wanted at least to have the opportunity to meet with the finalists of the property, so that he could offer his ideas from the player’s perspective to benefit the team – and then the Texans could hire whoever they wanted. “
Houston chased Caserio ahead of the 2019 season and just gave up when it was the object of possible accusations of adulteration. It is fair to imagine how thorough the search was this time, due to previous interest in Caserio.
Albert Breer of MMQB added that Watson previously “advocated” that Texans interview the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, but the team passed on the chance to do so:
Albert Breer @AlbertBreer
Watson defended Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy – Pat Mahomes gave EB a strong word with Watson – and the Texans didn’t even give Bieniemy an interview. Easy to see where he would feel they were just calming him down, saying he would be involved. https://t.co/F3cTcyJkFU
Watson’s request does not seem very irrational. He is not only the franchise’s quarterback, but also signed through the 2025 season. Ideally, the 25-year-old should not go anywhere anytime soon, so it’s important that he has a good working relationship with two of the organization’s biggest decision makers.
Instead, Texans potentially have a big problem on their hands. Rapoport and Schefter reports came after Pro Football Talk Mike Florio reported Watson “discreetly discussed with his colleagues the possibility of requesting an exchange. “
According to Benjamin Allbright of KOA NewsRadio, this topic has not gained much traction in the Houston offices:
Watson would obviously have a robust commercial market, but that should be considered a last resort because the reality of such a business is you could get a player or draft choice that becomes as valuable as Watson.
That said, keeping a star player around who doesn’t want to be there is not so beneficial either.
At least, it seems that McNair put Caserio in a difficult position early on.