Before trading for quarterback Matt Ryan, the Indianapolis Colts reportedly attempted to reach out to speak with Deshaun Watson’s camp about a potential trade for the 26-year-old.
The Houston Texans denied that request to speak with Watson. There was no way the Texans were going to let the Colts even entertain the notion of trading within the division.
Watson wound up choosing the Cleveland Browns as his destination, which led to the Colts acquiring the aforementioned Ryan. But it was still a bit peculiar that the Colts even reached out to Watson.
While on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, general manager Chris Ballard was asked the clarify the team’s interest in trading for Watson. He opted to give a “no comment” answer.
“Well, first on [Watson], he’s in Cleveland so I won’t comment on that one,” Ballard said around the two-hour, 43-minute mark.
Ballard rarely goes into details on potential trade interest and reports from around the league so this is no surprise. It also wouldn’t make much sense to delve into details with Ryan having already been acquired as the quarterback.
In his mind, it doesn’t matter because the Colts already have their replacement for Carson Wentz.
The optics of the situation have been the talk of the league. Watson was not indicted by a grand jury on nine criminal complaints of sexual assault or harassment in Harris County (Texas).
While Watson wasn’t indicted by the grand jury last week, he still faces cases for the 22 women who have filed civil lawsuits against the current Browns quarterback.
The Browns still have to wait for the result of those civil cases while awaiting a potential suspension from the NFL.
We’ll never know how much interest the Colts had with Watson before he was traded to the Browns, but the team appears excited and rejuvenated after acquiring Ryan from the Falcons.
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