Deshaun Watson trade rumors: Could move to Patriots actually happen?

Deshaun Watson’s cryptic tweets indicate he wants a trade from the Texans but could the Patriots actually swing the AFC back in their favor?

Tom Brady electing to sign with the Buccaneers caused many to make the leap that the New England Patriots‘ dynasty under Bill Belichick was over. Losing the six-time Super Bowl champion and being left with Jarrett Stidham and, eventually, Brian Hoyer as options under center appeared to be evidence of that. And yet, the buzz of Deshaun Watson only turning the page in the Patriots dynasty has been growing louder.

For starters, it’s not difficult to see why Watson would be displeased with the Houston Texans after the events of the past year, particularly the 2020 offseason. After mortgaging the draft future through various, head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien submitted the coup de grace as he traded away DeAndre Hopkins for a second-round pick and David Johnson.

Since O’Brien and the Texans traded away his best weapon — and one of the five best wide receivers in the NFL — Watson has been quite cryptic on social media. Whether they be song lyrics or not, the message of his posts on Twitter has seemingly indicated that he’s displeased with his current positioning in Houston.

Given that type of sentiment from Watson and the now massive hole at quarterback for the Patriots, the connection was obvious enough to make. However, Watson really got people talking about a potential deal between Houston and New England for the quarterback when he liked a reply to one of his tweets that featured a picture of Belichick.

Since then, there has been rampant speculation about Deshaun Watson potentially wanting out of Houston and, as such, the Patriots have been connected to that. But that demands a simple question: Is that realistic?

On one hand, you would say that the Texans would have to be out of their gourd to trade the 24-year-old quarterback who already looks to be one of the most dynamic players at his position in the league. At the same time, you might’ve said that same about Houston coming into the offseason as it pertained to Hopkins, who’s now on the Arizona Cardinals.

But even if the Texans were to hit the reset button in the most emphatic of ways by trading Watson, it’s hard to imagine even O’Brien — who has been rightfully lambasted for his trade returns — not getting a king’s ransom for the 2017 first-round pick. So then, the question then becomes, if Houston were willing to listen to a deal, would the Patriots be willing to pony up?

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports speculated as to what a Deshaun Watson trade would look like between New England and Houston if it were to go down. He suggested the Patriots would get Watson and a 2021 sixth-round pick while the Texans would receive first-round picks in 2020 and 2021, third- and fourth-round picks in 2021 as well, a 2022 second-rounder and franchise-tagged offensive guard Joe Thuney.

While that’s certainly a steep price, it could be well worth it for Belichick and New England if it means sustaining their two-decade run of success. Watson would be miles better than any stopgap option they could obtain, such as Andy Dalton or Cam Newton, and would offer more of a long-term future than any other option as well.

As much fun as it is to speculate about Watson taking up the post left vacant by Brady via one of the biggest trades in NFL history, it’s hard to imagine it actually coming to fruition as things currently stand. However, if the time comes when Watson’s rookie contract is up after the 2021 season and he’s still unhappy, then things could get much more interesting.

But for now, O’Brien’s moves — as questionable as they may have been — have been about trying to get the infrastructure and a future around his young quarterback. So then trading Deshaun Watson would nullify everything he’s done to this point.

So if you’re holding your breath that the Patriots are going to trade for Watson and not miss a beat after Brady’s departure, you should probably exhale. It’s even too outlandish of a move for the Texans to make. But then again, who’s to say that O’Brien’s bizarro world in Houston couldn’t kick it up a gear?