To me that makes it more imperative to get 3 firsts from them. What they want/need isn’t important to the Texans. They will have a young franchise QB
The other aspect of this is they have Ryan who can recoup some of what they lose in trading for Watson. There is no need at all to try and help them out. Texans need to squeeze every drop of value out of this deal.
Thankfully Caserio also has the power of a no-trade clause. If the final offers come back light, because why wouldn't they once watson eliminates the others, then Caserio needs to wait.
Watson is the last star left. Rodgers and Wilson are off the table. Brady is back with Bucs. Also, while Wilson does have those advantages him being about 5 years older is a significant difference... The Falcons or Saints would be adding a lot of ring chasers similar to bucs... don't be shocked to see Landry and Fuller joining Watson...
I don't think that's going to happen. Any type of funny business like that would be dirty pool and ruin reputations around the league. I'm pleasantly surprised how this has transpired. Nick vetted trade offers first, presented options to DW4, and he's going to pick from those. Nick gets good value, DW4 exercises his autonomy. Everybody is happy. My big fear was that this was going to get ugly and stall out. I think DW4 and his agent thought better of it all and are just happy to be leaving with at least some control over the final say.
So additional 2024 draft capital is the difference between a "shitty" and "not shitty" deal? Come on. The fact is I don't think the parameters of the proposed deal are "shitty." Let's say the overall package is 2 FRPs (including #8 this year), 2 SRPs (including 43 this year), and Terrell. That, to me, is very valuable, more valuable than just 3 uncertain FRPs and 3 uncertain SRPs that was the initial "base" trade discussed.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/18/gameplan-nfl-wild-week-new-league-year-2022 As for the Watson situation, it’ll be interesting to see what he prioritizes down the stretch. To that, one thing I heard through the grapevine is that he’d like for his new team to adjust his contract, and new money and guarantees have been part of the discussion. He could be looking for a raise. He could just be looking to protect himself financially in the case of a suspension—converting a chunk of his $35 million base salary into a bonus would accomplish that and also could be used as a mechanism to lower his 2022 cap number for his new team. Either way, financials are part of the picture here. The Saints made their best pitch Wednesday night, sending owner Gayle Benson to Atlanta to meet with Watson. The Falcons met earlier that day with Watson, who has family in the area and grew up an hour north of town in Gainesville, Ga. As for the Texans’ piece of this, the four teams that got visits had to basically get to a certain threshold with their trade offers to get permission to talk to Watson—so the deals aren’t necessarily all the way done with Atlanta and New Orleans, but close enough that both of those teams and the Texans were comfortable a fair trade could be worked out whenever Watson chooses which team he’d waive his no-trade clause for.
Nick wouldn't do that, just the same as DW4 wouldn't torpedo the deal. It's in no one's best interest for anyone to pull a fast one at this point.
I actually expect Fuller to go to ATL if watson ends up there (not as sure if he goes to NO, but they could also use WR support after Thomas). And I hope you are right... we Texan fans deserve good fortune after our history of bad moves and worse luck. But none of the big names mentioned had watson's baggage, so even as "the last star left" his star is heavily tarnished and I am as a Texan fan conditioned to be disappointed.
I suspect Watson ready knows who is coming with him and the meetings with the teams were also about his boys and getting them paid under the cap too...
You may ask why is he waiting if he wants the Atl... 1) Max value for Matt Ryan by having the time for multiple suitors to emerge. 2) Saints are in the division. Longer they are in the lurch the harder to sign guys...