Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson will meet with two NFC South teams over the next two days in an attempt to waive his no-trade clause: The Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints.
Deshaun Watson could be traded by the Houston Texans to an NFC South team over the next few days.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported “Deshaun Watson is expected to meet in the next 48 hours with the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints, amongst other teams.”
The plan is for Watson to meet with teams individually before agreeing to waive his no-trade clause with the Texans. Watson grew up in the NFC South region over in Gainesville, Georgia. He played his college ball at Clemson as well.
Given the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints‘ issues at the quarterback position of late, it is not the least bit shocking to see these two NFC South teams in the fray to potentially trade for the controversial franchise quarterback.
Deshaun Watson meeting with Panthers, Saints ahead of potential trade
Watson going to either of these teams would be utterly fascinating. He grew up an Atlanta Falcons fan not too far from their team headquarters in Flowery Branch. These two teams just so happen to be the Falcons’ biggest rivals. Though Atlanta is not in the market to trade for a controversial franchise quarterback, it appears to be an arms’ race between rivals Carolina and New Orleans.
Houston may be eating a ton of dead cap by trading Watson this early into his contract extension with the Texans, but they clearly just want to move on at this point. However, all things equal, one would think the Texans would prefer to trade Watson to an NFC team over an AFC squad, just so they would not have to face him with greater regularity. This is why the NFC South makes sense.
Ultimately, Watson to either the Panthers or Saints makes those two teams viable. Tom Brady may have returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he would be the future of the quarterback position in the division with Brady and Matt Ryan getting up there in age. Though the Panthers and the Saints will take a PR hit by trading for Watson, the belief is he will help them win games.
Other teams might enter the fray, but Watson to the NFC South feels like a strong possibility here.