Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson trade needs to happen ASAP

The relationship between the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson is looking increasingly untenable, which should increase the urgency from the franchise to get a trade done.

Whenever a superstar NFL player is unhappy and demanding a trade, it’s always a slippery slope. The franchise doesn’t want to give up such a valuable player if at all possible but, if the relationship can’t be repaired, they then lose leverage in any negotiations. Such is becoming the case with the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson.

Watson’s unhappiness and frustration with the Texans has been widely reported and, as such, trade rumors have heated up around the quarterback. But while Houston could undoubtedly get a haul for Watson in any potential deal, the fact of the matter was that they didn’t want to let the quarterback get away.

Yet, it’s looking as if they may not have an option moving forward. While on NFL Countdown, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Watson “has no plans to be with the Houston Texans anytime soon — if ever,” (h/t Adam Wells of Bleacher Report).

With Watson not planning to rejoin the team, that changes everything for the Texans. And now, their reluctance to part ways with their superstar quarterback, even for a substantial trade package, must turn the other direction. It must be a mad dash to get as good of a deal as they can get as soon as possible.

The Houston Texans need to trade Deshaun Watson before they lose all leverage.

Even with Watson’s widely reported unhappiness with the Texans, Houston still held all of the cards in a potential trade. They didn’t have to trade their quarterback in hopes of mending the relationship and keeping him around, meaning that any interested trade partners would need to overwhelm them with a deal to get it done.

The power dynamic has now shifted, though. Houston is now in a position in which Watson is seemingly not going to play for them and, subsequently, other teams know that. They can then use that as a bargaining chip in negotiations as they’re trading for a player who the Texans legitimately will get nothing from if they hang onto him.

Make no mistake, should a Watson trade go down, it’s going to be of the blockbuster variety. Even in this situation, the Texans can’t let him walk for pennies on the dollar. However, it’s quite likely that they’ll be forced to accept a lesser trade package in return than they would’ve just a few days ago.

These types of situations are ever-changing and this is another example of that. As things currently stand with Deshaun Watson, though, the Houston Texans will only be hindering the future of their franchise if they don’t try to trade their quarterback sooner rather than later.