The Houston Texans are in a difficult situation right now. Their star quarterback Deshaun Watson is currently facing 22 lawsuits that are pending for sexual misconduct. However, Watson remains on the 53-man roster because no action has been taken by the NFL in terms of a suspension.
The league is waiting until all of the information has been provided before they decide how much time Watson will miss. The legal system has always worked this way.
You are innocent until proven guilty.
What Should Houston Do?
But circling back to the predicament, the Texans have a few different options. The most obvious decision is to trade Watson especially since he had requested a trade before news broke of the sexual misconduct.
Potential bidders are playing it safe since they don’t know how much time Watson might end up missing. Also, when you factor in the Texans very steep asking price for the quarterback, it is not difficult to wonder why no trade has come to fruition so far. NFL analyst Barry Jackson shared via a tweet that, “As NFL Net reported today, Texans not relenting on high demands of 3 first rounders and more.”
The second, and most unlikely option, would be to release him outright. This would mean that they would lose Watson and not receive anything in return. Despite the legal issues facing the quarterback, he is still extremely talented and Houston would be foolish to release him for nothing.
*Dolphins have emerged as the front runner for Deshaun Watson*
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— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) August 28, 2021
The third option is to hold onto him and start him as their quarterback in week 1. This would be controversial but technically is allowed since Watson is eligible to play as of now. However, If Watson were to start it would cause unnecessary distractions for the team.
Finally, the fourth option is to keep him on the active roster but not play him. This means that Tyrod Taylor will start at quarterback with Watson watching from the sidelines. And this seems to be the course of action that Houston is planning to take.
What is the Long Term Plan for Deshaun Watson?
The Texans are reportedly going to keep Watson on their 53-man roster and still pay him his salary of over $10 million. The caveat is that Watson will remain inactive every week until a legal decision is made regarding his sexual misconduct. Is this truly the smartest course of action?
Well, the Texans other options have not panned out. It seems likely that this will remain the scenario until the league announces the discipline for Watson. If Houston can find a trading partner who is willing to meet their high asking price they will surely take it, but for now Watson will remain inactive as a member of the Houston Texans.
This has undoubtedly been a mess of a situation, but the Texans are trying to push their way through it. There is no telling when we will see Watson on the field again, but it seems likely that it will not be until next year.
