No surprise here. Despite Tyrod Taylor‘s injury, head coach David Culley says the Texans will not play Deshaun Watson this week (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
[RELATED: Tyrod Taylor Suffers Hamstring Injury]
Rookie Davis Mills will start on Thursday night when the Texans take on the Panthers. Taylor could be out for more than just one week, of course, but the Texans are awaiting word from doctors on his timeline. Without Taylor, the Browns beat the Texans 31-21. Mills finished the day going 8-of-18 for 102 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Taylor, meanwhile, completed 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards and one TD before he was forced to the sideline.
After the game, Culley declined to say whether Watson could wind up on the 53-man roster. In theory, Watson could be activated as the clipboard holder, but it’d be a shock to see him take the field given the Texans’ stance thus far. To our knowledge, the Texans’ position has not changed — they are willing to trade Watson if another team is willing to forfeit a massive haul of draft picks with zero conditions attached. Otherwise, GM Nick Caserio is ready to pay Watson to not play in 2021 and reevaluate things next year.
Would you rather be deshuan watson of Trevor Bauer right now?
Weird
Bauer, he has one accuser while Watson has like 28 accusers
You’d think Bauer would’ve handled his case ASAP so he could play in playoffs but apparently that’s not a priority for him – where he would rather drag this out and admit no fault.
Bauer is going to be suspended when the resolution occurs. He wasn’t pitching again this year ever.
@bradthebluefish: How could Bauer ‘handle’ his case? It’s a criminal matter. It moves as fast as the legal system can, and no action by him short of a plea deal can speed it up. And if he pled, there’s no way he’d play in the playoffs.
They did do things as soon as they could but they were never letting him pitch again this year. Consensual or not, the testimony of what happened wasn’t going to lend to him playing again.
He essentially got the best they could hope for right now with the restraining order being lifted but he still has a civil case to deal with. More likely than not he will be back next season.
Watson honestly probably settles out of court as well.
you must have not been paying attention…Bauers isn’t playing cause his teammates didn’t want him back and they didn’t want to mess with the club house.
Watson exposed himself to women and asked for sexual favors, which made the female masseuses uncomfortable. Question is whether he crossed a legal line or was just inappropriate. Bauer had sex with and beat up a woman while she was unconscious; yes, she had asked for rough sex but when someone is unconscious they cannot consent.
Bauer may never play again…Watson will be fined, suspended and go to counseling, but I don’t think it’s similar at all.
Hell, Robert Kraft did the same thing as Watson…he just asked someone who said ‘yes’.
Honestly an interesting question. Both getting paid while working out their legal issues. Watson has many more accusers but Bauer’s one may be more serious it’s also not his first accuser. Im going to say Watson but simply because of how other teams still value him. They may not give up what the Texans would have gotten before this legal trouble but he’s still going to bring back a haul in a trade. Bauer may not even have a trade market given his salary, legal status, and perception of issues within the clubhouse(true or untrue). He’s probably wishing he’d gone the Cole route vs the shorter term/higher AAV deal he chose to maximize his earning potential. The Dodgers can afford to write him off for a bit and not be hampered for 5-8 years if his troubles continue.
Well I can say after watching yesterday’s games; Jags, Jets, Colts, Falcons, Giants, Eagles, Fins, & Bengals can use a stud QB. I named many young guys but 2-3 picks games aren’t good. He’ll be playing again.
Jags, Jets, and Bengals are all rebuilding around stud prospect QBs and wouldn’t take Watson even if he was free. Colts and Dolphins I get because of injury, but QB isn’t necessarily the issue on the Falcons and Giants, weak defenses and bad offensive lines are their problems.
That’s a lie. The hyperbolic nature of how you put it isn’t in the nature of possibility but Zach Wilson hasn’t looked good at all. Burrow is still clearly working out his own kinks and Lawrence is probably a year away. A free player in the caliber of Watson easily makes all 3 teams better.
@kylewait: It’s not a lie. No chance on earth the Jets would give up on Wilson already. They literally just took him #2 overall and jettisoned a #3 overall pick to do so. And he ‘hasn’t looked good at all’? It’s been two games! And I’m the one being accused of having a ‘hyperbolic nature’? What are you talking about?
And ‘Burrow is still clearly working out his kinks’? He’s played 12 games and has occasionally looked fantastic despite the worst offensive line in football.
As for Lawrence, he was the number one overall pick and is the face of the franchise. He, like Wilson, has played only two games. Jags wouldn’t bench him for Watson.
Considering Watson’s situation and the fact that the NFL would probably slap a suspension on him if anyone tried to play him, there’s a zero percent chance any of these three teams would give up anything for Watson. It’s simply not worth the risk to any of them.
I don’t think you understand what the word hyperbolic means if you think what I said has any hyperbole to it. You said they wouldn’t take in Watson for free. Literally every team would take him on for free. Every. Single. One.
If your choice is, let’s watch our rookie QB throw interception after interception or let the 2020 passing yard leader play because by your logic, he was free, I believe the choice is pretty obvious. And yes, the Jets would gladly swap Wilson for Watson. We know Wilson has “upside:”. We know Watson has been a pro bowl QB 3 years in a row. Kind of an easy choice there. Burrow blew out his knee and does not rival the athleticism or arm strength of Watson. Not a hard choice there either. The only guy who you could make a legitimate argument for is Lawrence and that is because he is expected to be great, but there is no proof he will be.
We’re talking from a talent standpoint. Not any of the other stuff going on. From a pure talent standpoint, Watson is better than literally all 3. There is no hyperbole there. But if we want to use your statement and say he was free, literally all 3 teams plus the 28 other teams would all happily roster him.
I’d take the Bengals and Giants off this list. Burrow is still finding his feet and Daniel Jones is not getting any help from an awful surrounding cast. If you put Jones in a different situation I think he’s a more than capable signal caller. The Giants need EVERYTHING not a new young QB for this talentless roster to ruin
And Lawrence has played 2 games he’s off this list as well
Bad list, imo. Jones has looked good, and Lawrence, Burrow, and Wilson aren’t sitting just because they aren’t aces yet.
Watson would rather get charged in Texas than in Cail.
He’ll get charged where the incidents took place unless it’s federal
Also the Texans: Give us 4 first rounders for him
And therein lies the problem. Are they going to keep him, and start him at some point? And how long will his inevitable suspension be? The Texans could literally lose Watson’s next two seasons
The sad thing is that the Texans could possibly be pretty decent if Watson would buy into the coaching staff. They had the Browns on the ropes yesterday until Tyrod got injured.
Dont put the giants on that list. If Jones had an oline and a receiver who doesnt drop wide open tds then he is plenty good enough
Didn’t see this before I responded above. Spot on. I think Jones has a ton of talent.
Is he? No one questions his physical traits. But that guy has never been consistent and it isn’t all about the OL or WRs. At a certain point it is about the individual and Danny Jones just hasn’t show consistency. And if you’re honest with yourself, the Giants led by Watson is a better team than with Jones.
It’s not 100% about the OL/WR, but it is probably around 90% of the issue. When he has time, which is rare, he’s been more than capable. The Giants had no WR corps to speak of last year and were one of the worst pass blocking teams in the league. The upgraded the WR but the OL still stinks.
Realistically, it’s unlikely that legal or moral concerns are playing any part in the Texan’s decisions…they just don’t want their trade chip getting hurt in a season they will be bad anyway.
The chances of any team trading for Watson right now are practically zero. No one is going to give up assets for a guy who may be suspended long term before he ever plays for your team. He’s going to remain in limbo until his situation gets resolved, which doesn’t sound as if it’s going to be anytime soon.
The Texans aren’t going to do anything that potentially puts them on the hook for paying off on Watson’s 2022-2025 contract extension. Expect them to sign a practice squad QB sometime in the next day or two.
I thought he already was on the 53-man roster, just listed as inactive. I haven’t seen that he was placed on an exempt list.