Report: What The Texans Have Been Asking For Deshaun Watson

The Houston Texans didn’t end up trading Deshaun Watson during the 2021 season, despite widespread speculation that they would. After the quarterback’s trade request during early in the offseason, the franchise never found a trade partner willing to match their asking price.

Part of the reason the Texans couldn’t strike a deal was because that asking price was quite high.

According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, Houston wanted at least five assets, including three first-round picks, in any trade for Watson. Although the Miami Dolphins expressed plenty of interest in the Pro Bowl quarterback, even owner Stephen Ross was willing to break the bank to that degree.

Apparently, the Texans are still planning to keep the price for Watson high this offseason. According to Howe, the organization has “no plans to reduce those demands” when the trade market heats back up this spring.

That’s a steep price to pay for Watson, who still faces 22 civil lawsuits of alleged sexual misconduct. The 26-year-old has denied all of the accusations, but his legal situation remains unresolved as of mid-January.

To add another layer to the subject, Texans general manager Nick Caserio made some comments earlier this week about the Watson situation. He implied that the once-franchise quarterback likely won’t be in Houston come the start of the 2022 season, but he didn’t completely shut the door down on a return.

“There’s been some commentary that more than likely would not be the case,” Caserio said of a Watson return on SportsRadio 610, via NFL.com. “I think we just have to be open-minded and just take the information and process it, then ultimately make the decision we feel makes the most sense for everybody involved, whatever that looks like.”

If the Texans are serious about trading Watson, the asking price will likely have to come down. Time will tell if the organization decides to do so when trade discussions start to pick back up in a few weeks.

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