It appears that it’s come down to a two-team competition for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, with longtime Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain saying that, “He’s rejected everybody but Carolina and New Orleans,” during a Monday appearance on WFNZ sports radio with Kyle Bailey, though McClain later characterized the move as “Other interested teams could have been rejected,” when reporting directly for the Houston Chronicle. The only team we know has been rejected are the Indianapolis Colts, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who notes that was the Texans’ decision.
McClain adds that the Saints are prepared to include their first-, second-, and third-round draft picks in this year’s draft in the trade package for Watson as well as future selections and multiple young players still on their rookie contracts. That describes players like defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, center Erik McCoy, and defensive end Marcus Davenport, and others. Interestingly, McClain notes that the Saints weren’t interested in Watson until after Dennis Allen was promoted to head coach.
Additionally, Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson reports that Watson will meet with both the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints on Monday evening in Houston, though Wilson adds that other teams are scheduling meetings with Watson for Tuesday, which was confirmed by USA Today Sports’ Josina Anderson.
So things are more complicated here than it appears on the surface. Not helping matters is that all of these interviews and conversations between Watson and teams that wish to trade for him are being scheduled around his lengthy civil deposition hearing in which he will address the allegations of sexual misconduct from 22 different women. That takes precedence, but the Saints and Panthers clearly hope to get out in front of it, make their pitch to Watson, and then sprint out of the way when details from that deposition are reported.
