Although the 2020 season has officially concluded with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning Super Bowl LV, the NFL is going to enter what looks to be quite an eventful offseason.
Several teams are in the market for a new quarterback, and there just so happens to be a couple of marquee names available. The most notable name, however, is Deshaun Watson, who has made it clear to the Houston Texans and the rest of the league that he wants a change of scenery.
The relationship between the Texans and Watson deteriorated after the franchise opted to trade DeAndre Hopkins and then ignored his recommendation for their vacant general manager position. Now, the two sides are at the point of no return and it is only a matter of time before Watson is playing elsewhere.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden weighed in on the Watson rumors and the possibility of the team acquiring him, via Jeremy Layton of New York Post:
“I personally look at this like a fantasy world here,” Gruden said. “They have a new GM (Nick Caserio) in Houston who comes from New England, he just went through a year in New England without Tom Brady. I think he has a pretty good idea how important Deshaun Watson is to the Texans.
“I don’t think there’s any way in the world they trade Deshaun Watson and if they did, the compensation is going to kind of be like the Rams, you’ll have to give up seven number ones, you’ll never draft again.”
The Los Angeles Rams kicked things off when they landed Matthew Stafford in an unexpected blockbuster deal. The Rams traded a pair of first-round picks, a third, and Jared Goff in exchange for Stafford, thus setting a baseline for what a potential Watson deal would look like.
However, like Gruden noted, it would take even more draft compensation and players to land someone like Watson. The quarterback has established himself as one of the top players at his position and someone of his caliber does not usually become available.
So far, there has not been much traction on a trade but expect things to heat up in the following weeks. It appears the Raiders are listening to offers on Derek Carr, which would be a way to acquire more draft picks if Watson becomes available.
