Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was reportedly angry with how the Houston Texans carried out their hiring of new general manager Nick Caserio. Watson was meant to be included in the quest to find a new GM, but ultimately wasn’t.
This didn’t sit well with the superstar signal-caller, and he publicly confirmed on Friday that he is, indeed, furious at the Texans organization.
Deshaun Watson strongly hints at strained relationship with Houston Texans
It doesn’t take a massive leap in logic to discern what Watson was referencing when he sent a tweet that seems cryptic out of context, but is, in fact, directly in reference to a recent report:
Check out this scoop from Adam Schefter, as Watson essentially confirmed verbatim that the ESPN insider’s summation of the situation in Houston was extremely accurate:
Wow. Watson has serious composure not to be incensed at the Texans for trading his superstar receiver DeAndre Hopkins prior to last season. That he’s going viral on Twitter for his discontent right now is a terrible sign for Houston, who’s still searching for a new head coach.
Texans legend Andre Johnson implored Watson to fight his way out after experiencing little in the way of winning throughout his otherwise amazing career:
The 25-year-old superstar apparently took Johnson’s advice quite literally.
Does this mean Watson and Houston can’t make amends? Well, sorry Texans fans. It probably does.
Houston Texans have little hope of keeping Deshaun Watson
A 10-word statement on Twitter is all it took to confirm the worst suspicions about what’s going on with the Texans: Watson wants out, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any way to rebuild his relationship with the organization at this point.
Houston, we have a problem.
Caserio was a longtime personnel man under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots. That wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that Watson’s last head coach, Bill O’Brien, came from Foxborough, got power-hungry and became the GM who pulled off several crazy moves, not least of which was trading Hopkins to Arizona.
Even with a diminished supporting cast in 2020, Watson led the NFL in passing yards and looks every bit like a top-five quarterback no matter who’s surrounding him. If the Texans were better on defense, they would’ve been in the playoffs.
Since the Schefter report was confirmed to be true, it’s reasonable to assume Watson’s alleged desire to land with the Miami Dolphins is also a thing. Other teams that need a QB upgrade, such as the 49ers or the Patriots, could go after Watson if he’s on the trade block.
While it’d probably take a king’s ransom and then some for anyone to pry Watson away from Houston, given the state of affairs with the Texans and him, there may be no other option.
Caserio and the front office must find a head coach to Watson’s liking to help the cause. However, Houston already apparently irked Watson on that front, too, by delaying its efforts to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
According to Over the Cap, barring a restructuring of Watson’s contract, the Texans would need to wait until June 1 or after to deal him away in order to save about $10.5 million in cap space. They could use all the assets they get in return to reconstruct the roster, but of course, losing the face of the franchise would be a tough way for Caserio to kick off his tenure.