Deshaun Watson has informed the Texans he would accept a trade to the Dolphins, and John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports the teams have agreed on compensation. Talks between GMs Chris Grier and Nick Caserio heated up last week and are expected to continue through the Nov. 2 trade deadline, but this journey still has ground to cover.
Should this deal go through, McClain notes the Texans are likely to see their asking price of three first-round picks met. But the back end of the deal — Houston’s aim for multiple second-rounders — might not quite meet the Texans’ goals. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross may serve as the key party here, and his current stance is somewhat murky.
[RELATED: Panthers Not Expected To Pursue Watson In 2021]
Reported as being behind a Watson trade before the season, Ross has spoken “excitedly” regarding the prospect of the three-time Pro Bowler coming to Miami, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes. However, NBC Sports’ Peter King adds Ross is not believed to be pressuring Grier to complete this deal. That said, McClain reports the longtime Dolphins owner has signed off on his team acquiring the embattled quarterback — with conditions. Those conditions make this deal difficult to finalize by the Nov. 2 trade deadline.
Ross wants more clarity on Watson’s legal situation and how the NFL will proceed regarding a suspension, McClain adds. Twenty-two women have accused Watson of sexual assault or sexual misconduct, with SI.com reporting (via Jackson) three of the 10 women who have spoken to the Houston Police Department have alleged Watson sexually assaulted them. That is a second-degree felony in Texas. Watson has long denied any wrongdoing and does not want to settle cases.
The NFL has not interviewed Watson, and his deposition in the civil suit is not slated to occur until after Super Bowl LVI. This has created a gray area, one that sets up the unusual and optically problematic prospect of Watson playing for another team this season before facing a lengthy suspension in 2022. Watson is not expected to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, and Roger Goodell confirmed Tuesday night the NFL does not have enough information on these cases to place Watson on the list, via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Dolphins (1-6) have quickly stumbled out of playoff contention, so a Watson move would be for the future.
This is not completely viewed as a Miami-or-bust scenario for Watson, with USA Today’s Josina Anderson noting the fifth-year QB is essentially fine with being traded to most of the teams connected to him (Twitter link). This might not include the Eagles, however. Watson invoked his no-trade clause to block a potential Philadelphia trade, McClain adds.
The Dolphins possess three first-round picks over the next two drafts, having acquired the 49ers’ 2023 choice in the deal that allowed San Francisco to move up for Trey Lance. Miami dealt the other first-rounder obtained in the Lance deal to move up for Jaylen Waddle. Still, a three-first-rounder package would be a historic haul and present tremendous risk for the Dolphins, given Watson’s present status. It will also be interesting if the Texans can land three first-rounders from the Dolphins if the Panthers are truly out of mix.
A Watson trade would, of course, bring a quick end to Tua Tagovailoa‘s run as Miami’s quarterback of the future. Though an August report indicated the Texans are not overly interested in Tagovailoa, Watson coming to Miami would lead to Tua becoming a trade chip at some point.
Brian Flores has repeatedly endorsed Tagovailoa as his starter, doing so again Wednesday morning, but Flores is now on the hot seat. The 81-year-old Ross’ win-now mindset may prevail over any PR blowback the Dolphins would face by acquiring Watson. It now looks like the Dolphins represent by far the best chance of Watson being traded this year. If the Texans do not unload the exiled passer now, McClain adds a trade may not happen until near the 2022 draft.
I just can’t trust Houston media covering the story when multiple sources have claimed the Texans are leaking false information
John McClain is a well respected journalist by the sports media. I highly doubt he’d willingly act as a shill, and has been around too long to be manipulated in to being an unknowing one.
That says nothing of his work that one Christmas Eve at Nakatomi Tower.
Any guy who can bring down a helicopter with only a police car deserves respect in all his endeavors !!
Brought another chopper down by shooting an electric wire with the last bullet that he had available too. Even got Cleo McDowell sucked into an engine of a 747 before blowing it out of the air using a cigarette lighter. Yippie Ki Yay!! motherf***er!!!
Please, it’s obvious trouble follows that guy everywhere…Christmas parties, airports, bank vaults. Even his wife left him and moved 3,000 miles away.
Even got a hacker/gamer to convert to being “that guy”. His daughter, who hates him too, now likes the kid because the kid is now “that guy” just like John….When will daughters learn??
Why in the world would the dolphins or anyone trade for him until the legal situation is all set. None of that makes sense at all!!
Because it’s the Dolphins.
The NFL caved and no longer hands out discipline, just ask Richard Sherman.
Because the guy is talented and still only 26. If he gets suspended, even for an entire season, the Dolphins still end up with the best QB they’ve had in over 20 years.
Because that team is as dumb as a team could possibly be. They deserve all the lost sponsorships, rioting fans (especially women), boycotts, and media distractions that will come with it. They deserve it all for even considering such a stupid move. Bunch of idiots running the show down there, if this all is true
In the meantime I’m sure this is all doing wonders for Tua’s confidence.
I’m guessing both teams lose again this week! But for any scout from the fins these past 3 years, they shouldn’t get another job, or at least should work for BoB.
If there are contingencies worked in and you have sincere interest now, how would waiting for clarity and competition for his services benefit the Dolphins?
So what does one have to do to end up on the exempt list?
Be formally charged with a felony or violent crime, which Watson has not
League discipline used to be based on shame brought to the shield regardless of what happens in the courts. So even if payouts were made to make cases go away you were still punished.
Not necessarily. I believe it’s been done before without those caveats
I heard that Watson has done some scouting of the massage therapists in the Miami area and is impressed with what he has seen. With this revelation the trade to Miami is looking more likely
Plus, he has the Patriots Owner as a resource for all those kinds of places.
Yea trade for a guy who may or may not be able to play . I know he worth it but . Is he worth that kind of offer with his legal issues
He’s worth it without all the drama and potential lawsuits and jail time. As it is, he’s worth nothing. Unless your GM/Owner is a complete idiot
The Texans and Dolphins should just merge into one team with the long term goal of having a .500 season.
I have no idea why I found this so funny but I literally laughed out loud in the middle of my meeting when I read this. Great comment!
The only way I would entertain a trade at this time (not that I would want Watson at the moment anyway) is if there was a trade clause that allowed my team to hold off sending future draft picks after the 2022 draft if his legal situation goes south and he never plays again in the NFL.
No way I’m throwing multiple picks for a guy that may never see the field again.
Josh5890 –
Common sense. Something that doesn’t exist in Miami apparently
There was a time when I thought that Watson would never play again in the NFL. I forgot who was telling the story, and that they rarely, if ever, tell us the truth. At least, not the whole, unadulterated, truth that hasn’t been scandalously manipulated to generate publicity and profits.
The longer this goes on, and after reading the individual complaints online and having a better understanding of what has really been said and done, I believe that there is more happening behind the scenes than what the media knows and what we have been fully informed about. However, I am sure that Watson’s agent has been sharing that complete information, with a non-disclosure agreement, of course, with the Dolphins. The Dolphins have not been good for a very long time, but, the individuals running the organization are no less blind to everything that we are seeing and saying, and, hapless as the Dolphins may seem, they wouldn’t give away that much for Watson if they didn’t have the inside information that he is ultimately going to be acquitted.
Was Watson looking for and getting “happy endings?” Sure. Lots of men do every single day, in every walk of life. It’s common culture in the NFL, too, though not openly talked about.
None of that makes it right or acceptable, I am just stating the truth.
The NFL needs to do something to address the problem, and Watson will be their poster child leading the way for healthy reform. They won’t want the spotlight shined on all of the others doing the exact same things, so, they won’t want to over expose themselves by making a negative example out of Watson. Instead, they will spin it as players needing help for another form of mental illness and addiction. Watch.
If you read the individual accounts from the different massage therapists, and the information obtained from third parties with close personal knowledge of some of them, you will see that a lot of what is going on is motivated by greed. Someone in high places, with considerable influence and power,caught wind of Watson’s proclivities for that type of behavior, and when he started talking about wanting to leave Houston they decided to retaliate by drumming up the civil cases against him. The first few plaintiffs were women who had already tried to blackmail Watson about the information, but, because he had been wise enough in advance to have them all sign non-disclosure agreements, he held steady and refused to pay their demands.
Then comes along the crafty attorney who is a regular walking side-show all of the time, way before this, and suddenly he turned those blackmailers into “innocent victims” and the three-ring media circus came to town. The bandwagon was in full motion and more “victims” with dollar signs in their eyes jumped aboard for the ride.
The problem remained that it was still a civil matter and most of the plaintiffs had signed legal non-disclosure agreements with Watson before they ever began massaging him. Therefore, their testimony in the civil matters was inadmissible and, in-fact, they could be counter sued. Unless…it transitioned from only being civil to becoming a criminal investigation. Then, it would all be public record, regardless of the outcome of any criminal prosecution, whether Watson was ever formally charged or not. The criminal complaints were filed just so they could go after Watson’s money, without recourse for breaking the terms of the non-disclosure agreements they had signed.
If there was probable cause to charge Watson criminally, the state’s prosecutors already would have. If you read the individual complaints from each of the massage therapists who had experiences with Watson and how they describe certain activities that the media has distorted to be made into something egregious and shocking, you will see that the therapists were never truly “forced” to do anything that they did not ultimately choose to do by their own decision. None of the complaints ever describe Watson physically forcing the massage therapists to do anything against their will, either by verbal threat to harm them nor by physically assaulting and overpowering them to make them do what they did.
If feeling “pressured” due to knowing that it is widely and commonly practiced between professional athletes and the other massage therapists that work on them that sexual favors are expected and provided, in exchange for generous payments, and then being fearful that if they were not willing to perform those favors then their reputations would be damaged because their failure to comply could be shared and they would not have the same profitable opportunities as therapist who would oblige the athletes, then, yes, they were “pressured” by their own greed and not wanting to be ostracized. Feeling pressured, for reasons such as that, does not equate to being “forced” to do something against their will and thereby becoming a victim of the crimes accused.
Did they see Watson’s genitalia? Yes.
Even most legitimate massages are performed on naked customers and, even when towels and other coverings are used, I am certain that it is not entirely uncommon for therapists to unintentionally or accidentally view their patients’ genitals at some time. If you’re going to work on naked patients, you have to be ready and willing to accept that it is part of the job.
Was Watson, perhaps, intentionally and overtly displaying his genitals? Sounds like he probably was. Still, they persisted with the massage and eventually he “made” (again, without force out threats of force or harm) them touch his penis with their hands, and “made” them “hold it” until he ejaculated (which is translated to, they were moving their hands in a motion to masturbate him as they were holding his penis for a continued amount of time beyond when they were “made” to touch or hold him, because I am sure he did not, though entirely possible, just spontaneously and prematurely ejaculate upon their simply touching and momentarily holding his penis in their hands and/or mouths. Sure, it’s entirely possible that he could have ejaculated prematurely without them continuing to actively, physically do anything more, but, I highly doubt that and believe that if that were the case then that unflattering detail would have been made known.) They were “pressured” to finish the job.
And, most of them continued to see Watson for repeated subsequent massages and further appointments, even after they were “made” to do the things they have now described as having traumatized them.
Please, they are insulting and minimizing the horrible acts of sexual assault and that many woman are legitimately victimized by every day.
They simply wanted to get paid: then, and now. Prominent people wanted to damage Watson’s reputation, or even initially intended to just extort him to prevent him from leaving the team. When those efforts failed, it turned into what it has become.
The FBI is involved, and I assure you it is not for the purpose of investigating the alleged sex crimes. They are investigating the illegalities of the how the attorneys for the accusers have manipulated the entire process and used undue influence to attempt to legally extort Watson. It may even involve collusion on the part of the Texans organization and ownership. All of that would even more-so explain the persistent silence and non-action thus far from the NFL, in addition to the Houston PD.
At the end of the day, while he won’t come away from this unscathed without his personal reputation being damaged for his perverse actions, Watson will be exonerated and vindicated of the crimes he is accused of committing. The Dolphins will finally have their long coveted franchise QB, and Watson will go on to have a Hall of Fame type of career, even if the asterisk beside his list of accomplishments will serve as a footnote that may keep him from ever wearing the golden jacket.
Blah blah blah…
OMG! If I wanted to read War and Peace, I’d just go to my book collection.
Exactly, he laid out 5000+ words in his 2 posts here.
I think you are onto something here Coach Cadillac. The repeat visits really do suggest most of the women involved were complicit.
A pity about the inarticulate people with reading disabilities who don’t appreciate your in-depth analysis.
Owners like Ross just ruin their own franchises. Hire knowledgeable football people and then let them do their jobs. Of course the owner can and should suggest or even steer his team towards a course of action, but it appears as if Ross is pretty much dictating that they acquire Watson at whatever the cost. That can’t be going over well in an already fractured locker room.
You know which owner is worse at dictating & believes he runs the NFL, All you have to do is look no further than to Jerry Jones
Like they said in the article he is 81 and wants to win now He could care less what happens after he is dead.
So you really mean “he could not care less” right?
Ridiculous
Bad enough Philly supposedly made a legitimate offer but this clown blocked it? Good, because had it gone through many fans would’ve burned their Eagles gear.
And I don’t trust any Eagles gossip from Josina, her mole Alshon is long gone.
Count me in. I was getting my litter fluid ready.
And here we go with another daily update of something going nowhere and even admits in the article it will be hard to consummate prior to the deadline in November. SMH
Clickbait
Trading your future away for a guy that might not be able to play is dumb. Miami are you that dumb?
Why would any team pay more than a bag of balls? Just taking on his salary would be a huge gain for the Texans
Miami content with driving up the price on themsleves? I dont get it
I would still take 3 ones and 3 twos plus Tua for Wilson. The guy is injury prone. I heard he got stepped on in Jr high ball and the coach pulled him for a play
Serious though trade Wilson make Tua the hand off guy and start rebuilding. I would probably let Pete retire with a hefty comp pick unless he signs with another team in any position.
They can rebuild the team starting with a LT then go DB the pass rusher. I haven’t looked at any QBs down the road in college but obviously pick the best one wherever he falls.
I know I was dead set against trading him but I thought the team would be in better shape than it is. We have huge holes all over and it is going to take some magic to fill them without “throwing” games. I know I am not a true fan blah blah blah. Easley my pet two legged mutt thinks I am a fan though. I need better wheels on his cart for his back legs. I got mudders because of the rain but they track too much mud in.
Guess he’ll be a fox in the henhouse on South Beach.
Grier has already traded away next seasons 1st round pick to Philadelphia & now he is possibly sending 3 more 1st round picks to Houston for a person who is facing possible prison.
This trade would be absolutely a stupid move on Grier’s part especially since he knows he screwed up by drafting Tagovailoa over Justin Herbert who is turning out to be a stud & Tagovailoa is turning out to be a dude who is even worse than David Woodley 40 yrs ago.
Grier needs to be sent packing
He won’t stop until the league saves him from himself. The MLB doesn’t permit the trading of draft picks and the NBA has the Stepien rule preventing teams from trading their #1 pick in consecutive years.
Actually an NBA team can trade away back to back 1st round picks because all a team has to do is draft the player the other team wants & then the player which means a team would not have 2 straight drafts without a 1st round pick
Wrong.
honestly that kid woulda taken his texans to the super bowl a few years ago had he not torn his ACL. this guy is an incredibly talented ball player and would do SO well in Miami. trade him. u know the nfl doesn’t give a crap abt anytbing like this. they’ll condemn him to keep their name good, but they’ll just say “give us $200,000 to make up for it” which is money he finds between his car seats. trade the man. let him enjoy his career. should he be punished, yes. but i know the nfl won’t do that. just let him play
Really?!? As a Ravens fan you should know better.
There was a time when I thought that Watson would never play again in the NFL. I forgot who was telling the story, and that they rarely, if ever, tell us the truth. At least, not the whole, unadulterated, truth that hasn’t been scandalously manipulated to generate publicity and profits.
The longer this goes on, and after reading the individual complaints online and having a better understanding of what has really been said and done, I believe that there is more happening behind the scenes than what the media knows and what we have been fully informed about. However, I am sure that Watson’s agent has been sharing that complete information, with a non-disclosure agreement, of course, with the Dolphins. The Dolphins have not been good for a very long time, but, the individuals running the organization are no less blind to everything that we are seeing and saying, and, hapless as the Dolphins may seem, they wouldn’t give away that much for Watson if they didn’t have the inside information that he is ultimately going to be acquitted.
Was Watson looking for and getting “happy endings?” Sure. Lots of men do every single day, in every walk of life. It’s common culture in the NFL, too, though not openly talked about.
None of that makes it right or acceptable, I am just stating the truth.
The NFL needs to do something to address the problem, and Watson will be their poster child leading the way for healthy reform. They won’t want the spotlight shined on all of the others doing the exact same things, so, they won’t want to over expose themselves by making a negative example out of Watson. Instead, they will spin it as players needing help for another form of mental illness and addiction. Watch.
If you read the individual accounts from the different massage therapists, and the information obtained from third parties with close personal knowledge of some of them, you will see that a lot of what is going on is motivated by greed. Someone in high places, with considerable influence and power,caught wind of Watson’s proclivities for that type of behavior, and when he started talking about wanting to leave Houston they decided to retaliate by drumming up the civil cases against him. The first few plaintiffs were women who had already tried to blackmail Watson about the information, but, because he had been wise enough in advance to have them all sign non-disclosure agreements, he held steady and refused to pay their demands.
Then comes along the crafty attorney who is a regular walking side-show all of the time, way before this, and suddenly he turned those blackmailers into “innocent victims” and the three-ring media circus came to town. The bandwagon was in full motion and more “victims” with dollar signs in their eyes jumped aboard for the ride.
The problem remained that it was still a civil matter and most of the plaintiffs had signed legal non-disclosure agreements with Watson before they ever began massaging him. Therefore, their testimony in the civil matters was inadmissible and, in-fact, they could be counter sued. Unless…it transitioned from only being civil to becoming a criminal investigation. Then, it would all be public record, regardless of the outcome of any criminal prosecution, whether Watson was ever formally charged or not. The criminal complaints were filed just so they could go after Watson’s money, without recourse for breaking the terms of the non-disclosure agreements they had signed.
If there was probable cause to charge Watson criminally, the state’s prosecutors already would have. If you read the individual complaints from each of the massage therapists who had experiences with Watson and how they describe certain activities that the media has distorted to be made into something egregious and shocking, you will see that the therapists were never truly “forced” to do anything that they did not ultimately choose to do by their own decision. None of the complaints ever describe Watson physically forcing the massage therapists to do anything against their will, either by verbal threat to harm them nor by physically assaulting and overpowering them to make them do what they did.
If feeling “pressured” due to knowing that it is widely and commonly practiced between professional athletes and the other massage therapists that work on them that sexual favors are expected and provided, in exchange for generous payments, and then being fearful that if they were not willing to perform those favors then their reputations would be damaged because their failure to comply could be shared and they would not have the same profitable opportunities as therapist who would oblige the athletes, then, yes, they were “pressured” by their own greed and not wanting to be ostracized. Feeling pressured, for reasons such as that, does not equate to being “forced” to do something against their will and thereby becoming a victim of the crimes accused.
Did they see Watson’s genitalia? Yes.
Even most legitimate massages are performed on naked customers and, even when towels and other coverings are used, I am certain that it is not entirely uncommon for therapists to unintentionally or accidentally view their patients’ genitals at some time. If you’re going to work on naked patients, you have to be ready and willing to accept that it is part of the job.
Was Watson, perhaps, intentionally and overtly displaying his genitals? Sounds like he probably was. Still, they persisted with the massage and eventually he “made” (again, without force out threats of force or harm) them touch his penis with their hands, and “made” them “hold it” until he ejaculated (which is translated to, they were moving their hands in a motion to masturbate him as they were holding his penis for a continued amount of time beyond when they were “made” to touch or hold him, because I am sure he did not, though entirely possible, just spontaneously and prematurely ejaculate upon their simply touching and momentarily holding his penis in their hands and/or mouths. Sure, it’s entirely possible that he could have ejaculated prematurely without them continuing to actively, physically do anything more, but, I highly doubt that and believe that if that were the case then that unflattering detail would have been made known.) They were “pressured” to finish the job.
And, most of them continued to see Watson for repeated subsequent massages and further appointments, even after they were “made” to do the things they have now described as having traumatized them.
Please, they are insulting and minimizing the horrible acts of sexual assault and that many woman are legitimately victimized by every day.
They simply wanted to get paid: then, and now. Prominent people wanted to damage Watson’s reputation, or even initially intended to just extort him to prevent him from leaving the team. When those efforts failed, it turned into what it has become.
The FBI is involved, and I assure you it is not for the purpose of investigating the alleged sex crimes. They are investigating the illegalities of the how the attorneys for the accusers have manipulated the entire process and used undue influence to attempt to legally extort Watson. It may even involve collusion on the part of the Texans organization and ownership. All of that would even more-so explain the persistent silence and non-action thus far from the NFL, in addition to the Houston PD.
At the end of the day, while he won’t come away from this unscathed without his personal reputation being damaged for his perverse actions, Watson will be exonerated and vindicated of the crimes he is accused of committing. The Dolphins will finally have their long coveted franchise QB, and Watson will go on to have a Hall of Fame type of career, even if the asterisk beside his list of accomplishments will serve as a footnote that may keep him from ever wearing the golden jacket.
Does not matter who the QB in Miami is just like it did not matter last yr in Houston when you throw the ball consistently more then 60% of the time you are going to lose especially if you cop out on the run game by not trying to run the ball enough or believing the defense is too good to run against and not running at least 20 times in a game.
Don’t know why Houston kept This Kelly Guy, and when you have Co Coordinators you really have none.