Deshaun Watson unhappy with Texans

Hate that it might come down to this but if EB finally gets his shot, think it’d be really hard for DW4 to turn around and say he wants out. Harden got a lot of slack for doing this to Silas, I would imagine the blowback on this would be much much worse. Right or wrong, don’t think the same would hold for Frazier unfortunately.

 

If the Texans hire EB and Watson still demands out, the narrative changes completely. It's the easiest hire I've ever seen and none of us expect the Texans to do the right thing.

Around this time most people expected John Lucas to be hired too for the Rockets. Maybe the Texans can surprise us here.

 

Then maybe Cal tries to work it out or placate him or try to convince him to stay or ask for more patience. Cal already say they were in contact - maybe Watson already tried your strategy. He needs Cal to understand it's over. We've learned repeatedly over the years that there are two ways to get yourself off the Texans: (1) ask for more money (not an option for him) (2) throw a tantrum ("not a character fit"). So why not use it?

What is the *negative* of his approach? How does it put him in a worse position?

 

I have this feeling that EB & Watson are working together. If EB really said something to the effect of "God doesn't run football teams" or some such in his interview, I think they're trying to ascertain what, exactly, is driving decisions with the Texans - winning or the Bible? Can the GM and/or coach build their own culture separate from Easterby?

EB comes with past concerns, too - are the Texans willing to pull the trigger on him, or will they go the safe route and get the more religious-y, quiet, patient, upstanding (he's so well-spoken!) Frazier?

And that's why Watson hasn't stated anything definitively yet - he's waiting. The hiring of Bieniemy will speak volumes to him and the path forward.

 

I think it's a slower burn that's useless.

If DW went to Cal with his agents and said "there's no way im ever putting on a Texans uniform again, and i'm happy to sit out the rest of my career".... i mean i wouldn't believe him, Cal probably won't believe him initially, but i think something would have happened already... or at the very least we wouldn't be hearing "Texans still trying to appease DW"

And moreover, as an aside, as many have noted, he's definitely causing permanent damage to his reputation among Texans fans, at least, which might not mean much in 10 years if he has 2 SBs for the Jets or Dolphins (lol, that ain't happening), but means something to his current fans right now.

You might say Texans fans are going to be pissed at him regardless if he leaves in any scenario. And that's partly true. But there are probably lots of Texans fans like me, who had his back for a bit this offseason, but at this point, think he's acting like an idiot and completely classless the longer it goes on.

 

I mentioned this in my original post - I don't think this is by accident. If his goal is to make it untenable for the Texans to keep him, then part of that may involve fans hating him. It's part of the business. My argument is that it may be a necessary evil to achieve his goal of getting out of here.

If you're Cal McNair and you know that if you trade Watson, all the fans are going to turn on you, you're less likely to do it. If you know half your fans are pissed at Watson and will blame *Watson* for the trade, it makes the decision to trade him much easier and save face.

Everything I'm saying is speculation, of course. But if I'm advising Watson, and our only objective is to force a trade, this is a perfectly rational strategy. His actions are making it less tenable for the Texans to keep him him and easier to justify getting rid of him. That fits perfectly with his supposedly desired end game.

 

Compare this to Harden - I know it's not a great comparison. But Harden told the Rockets he wanted a trade. They basically said fine, but on our timeline and our demands. It wasn't until Harden made it impossible to keep him that the Rockets discussions accelerated and forced a deal within 24-48 hours. He basically made everyone - owners, management, fellow teammates, and fans - angry at him to the point where the Rockets had no choice but to move him ASAP.

The timeline is different here - and Watson's not playing now - but the general principle is the same. Light it all on fire as obnoxiously as possible. Make it impossible for the Texans to keep him.

 

I think Texans fans and media are partly to blame for this. How many times have people said that we wasted andre Johnson’s and JJ watts career? We didn’t waste their career, we just weren’t good enough because we didn’t have a qb.

If you’re Watson and you’re constantly being told that your career is being wasted, eventually you start believing it.

 

I actually think DW is acting more like Harden than not like him. Neither one has been like "Im never ****ing playing again, trade me now."

It's all "passive aggressive" with lots of random social media posts, etc.

I don't understand the passive aggressive get the fans to hate me approach. You can do it much quicker. "I'm never playing for the Texans again!! Sorry." the end.

 

Yes, agree with this entirely.

It seems like the Texans, on the whole, have been one of the better franchises in terms of W/L and playoffs than many.

Imagine being Matthew Stafford

 

JR, this is exactly the point of those of us that have somewhat lost faith in him.

None of what we're hearing makes sense.

He doesn't like ownership because it might waste his career, but he wants to go to the Jets or Dolphins? Lol
He doesn't like ownership because of perhaps passive racism? But the likely final 2 candidates for HC are AA?

The GM thing he has a right to be mad about... but

BUT... BUT BUT BUT

Then again... this is a guy who at EVERY OPPORTUNITY backed Bill O'brien, who was a horrible coach and a worse GM.

Like.... I don't think we should trust in any of DWs evaluations on organizations, GMs or HCs...

 

The Jets as a destination makes zero sense to me so I just have a hard time believing that's a real thing. I guess, and it's a long shot, one could make the argument of playing in NY 'big market', but from a football standpoint it's a step back. Dolphins, however, I can see as being somewhat plausible. Location, obviously, and a talented young team. Still, there is a lot of BS floating around so it's hard to filter through it.

One thing that cannot be misconstrued, is that the Texans look like idiots.

 

ESPN are some ******* man.

The Astros they dragged through the mud the moment they could, no mercy, no shame. They don't even cover baseball but when that scandal hit it was all they covered and they made sure to tarnish that championship.

They pounced on that Harden story, basically mocking the Rockets for trying to do anything else other than trading him to the Nets...

And now this. This is obvious what they are doing here. They are getting as many people on TV as possible to tell Watson to leave, to go, to get out of there...to go to the...JETS? THE MFING JETS!?!

The Texans have not been the best franchise in the NFL, in fact, they've mostly been mediocre...THE JETS? The Jets have been TERRIBLE. There is 0 reason to believe they have figured it out, it's obvious why ESPN is trying to force him there. Has anyone on ESPN said this? Not Greeny, the literal JET fan, no way...has anyone on ESPN actually addressed the elephant in the room that the Jets are actually worse than the Texans?

 

They keep saying Watson hasn't publicly or privately asked for a trade...but that he never wants to take another snap here...Watson has not talked with the Texans...but McNair privately apologized to him...that he will never be traded...but his preferred destination is the Jets...sources say, reports are, this is such a headache. Texans need a complete literal reset, new ownership, new players, new name, new colors, just start over.

 

I'm fine with that as long as the only piece carried over is Watson. Though I'm sure Watson will want Fuller and Cooks to stay.

 

They are starting this crap with Rodgers too even though he hasn't asked for a trade or anything

 

I'm starting to think that these jack ass bible beaters want to trade DW. The insanity!!!!