Watson may be stuck in Houston for a long time
By: Gavin Oliver February 27, 2021

New Houston Texans head coach David Culley said during his introductory press conference last month he took the job knowing Deshaun Watson was the Texans’ quarterback and he expected Watson to be a part of the team in 2021.

However, Watson has no intention of suiting up for the Texans next season, and the former Clemson quarterback made that clear again during a recent meeting with Culley, according to a report from NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

“Deshaun Watson did show David Culley the respect of meeting with the new head coach, a guy who’s 65 years old and has waited his entire life for this opportunity,” Rapoport said. “Watson wanted to show him the respect he deserved, have the meeting with him, hear what he was going to say. But the stances have not changed.”

Disgruntled with how the organization has been run in recent years, Watson has requested to be traded by the Texans and, after the courtesy meeting with Culley, still wants out of Houston.

“Deshaun Watson did reiterate everything he has said and everything we have reported, which is that he wants to get traded, does not plan on playing for the Texans,” Rapoport said.

Rapoport noted Watson is not angry at Culley or Nick Caserio, who was hired as the team’s new general manager in January, but rather Watson’s frustration with the organization starts at the top.

“Deshaun Watson is not upset with David Culley. He’s not upset with Nick Caserio,” Rapoport said. “It has nothing to do with either of those guys. It goes much, much higher than that, much deeper than that, into the organization of course with owner Cal McNair.”

Despite Watson’s steadfast trade demand, the Texans have remained adamant they don’t plan to deal Watson, who just last summer signed a four-year, $156 million contract extension which runs through 2025.

With Watson and the Texans locked in a stalemate, Rapoport doesn’t see the saga being resolved by the start of free agency and perhaps not even before April’s NFL Draft.

“The problem here is I don’t sense any end in sight at all,” Rapoport said. “It’s not going to be by the start of free agency. That’s not when the Texans need to figure things out. It may not even be to the draft. We may get to training camp and be wondering is Deshaun Watson going to show up? That’s how far this will last into the offseason, which I would imagine we’ll be talking about for the next couple months.”

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