I think Easterby has been in Cal's ear. Cal may have made a promise to Watson about getting his input and may have wanted to honor that but when Caserio was equally interested in leaving the Patriots to become the Texans GM....maybe it was Easterby telling Cal he needed to make a decision now to avoid losing Caserio to another club.
At the same time, I could easily see Watson's agent being in his ear about the possibility of playing for a better team versus continuing his career with the Texans who are absolutely entering an ugly cap situation and a 2021 draft devoid of high-end picks. He may have been in communication with Watt and found out that Watt was going to ask (demand) his release since he wasn't prepared to finalize his NFL career going through a rebuild. Toss in some of the statements from both AJ and DH.....Watson may suddenly be asking himself as to how can I get out of this situation? Enter Cal, Easterby, and Caserio providing him his ammunition by hiring the GM while he was on vacation and then selecting the HC without any of his input......Watson and agent, Texans have wronged me, I demand a trade and will never play for the Texans again.
So, I think both sides are in the wrong which continues the saga of the Texans FO failures. Texans should call Watson and invite him to join Cal, Easterby, Caserio so they can announce that they have agreed to mutually part ways and the Texans are officially taking offers for consideration. End all this juvenile Toroshite and get down to business. Making a public announcement would make Caserio's phone number very popular with teams trying to figure out what they need to bring to the table to determine if they've offered enough to be in contention.