This is a really tough situation for me to sort through because my affiliations are split.
I have been a Texans fan since 2002, and my father was an Oilers fan before that. I was born in Houston. As a Houstonion and as a Texans fan, I absolutely cannot stand this has happened with my franchise and my quarterback.
With that said, I tend to have a heavy lean towards players in any business/contract/CBA dispute with owners. I know most individuals hate the millionaire vs billionaire disputes, because most of the world has more problems than just how many zeros to add, but that’s just the nature of the sports and entertainment business.
For those that say he shouldn’t have signed the extension if he wanted out, I say that if he got a career ending injury last year playing for whatever it was Houston was playing for, his agent and Deshaun would have failed the business side of the equation.
For those that say players need to honor their contract - owners renegotiate or restructure deals all the time or threaten to cut a player if they do not. David Johnson here. Rudolph in Minnesota recently just to name two. If owners can alter the contract terms on the fly, players can too. Players are the commodity. The league gives the players the platform, but the platform is what it is because of the players. We don’t cheer for Cal, that’s for damn sure.
@badboy that’s hysterical, and likely what Nick would do as soon as he hangs up. Watson’s side is best to play this cool and calm, because angry business is bad business. Mulugheta has already lit the match now, no use to keep throwing flames. Just let the slow burn continue.
@steelbtexan Mulugheta would immediately respond that he works for Deshaun and not Houston. Cal does not pay him directly. Deshaun does. He is not concerned with the return Houston gets. As someone noted in another thread and I forget who, NC will not put another individual in charge of Houston’s return, period. Can Mulugheta help facilitate conversations...maybe. But with Deshaun under contract with Houston, you have to be aware of tampering rules. And to be honest, no GM is going to trust the player agent to facilitate any trade, much less one of this magnitude. But GMs are going to talk to Nick because Nick is the cardholder. I know the threat of fines/conduct detrimental is there, but I repeat that Houston will not fine Deshaun multiple times to prevent the season from tolling. It would be like taking the Brown situation and adding nitrous to it. Watson will skip voluntary. He will skip OTA and camp. Take his 2-4 million dollar fine. Keep the pressure on Houston to have someone ready to go week 1 that isn’t named Watson (how many quarterbacks do we have currently? 1 Watson). Right now Watson isn’t concerned with his 2021 P5 salary (base) because it’s only roughly 10.5 million. His game checks are 650,000 each. He’s playing with house money this year because the signing bonus was his big money intake. As long as he does the minimum to hold his signing bonus, his larger P5 base salary doesn’t hit until 2022, and game checks will be more important then.
@thunderkyss
There is no clause that says Deshaun must be traded. But, as much as we all do not want to acknowledge this, holding Deshaun hostage is not good business period. It’s not good optics. It’s not a good team building strategy, I don’t care if Deshaun is the next Brady. Disgruntled players taint the juice. Duane Brown’s situation still resonates here. Andre Johnson’s situation still resonates here. Hopkins situation still resonates here. This Watson situation will resonate in Houston for at least 3 years. Probably 5-7. Maybe longer. The young guys in the locker room pay attention to their leaders. If the players and coaches and front office are not aligned, young guys know right away. If you want me to be honest, the Texans have not been the same since the Duane Brown fiasco. It was a bad business situation that was compounded by timing and slip of the tongue statements. Duane Brown was a tenured, respected leader in Houston. He and the Texans burnt down that support beam during his situation while young stars (Clowney, Watson, Hopkins) took note. They never forgot it. And I promise you it is still discussed today.
Again, with all this said, I want something, anything to happen that gets Watson back on board with the Texans, because finding a QB of his caliber is not just difficult, it may be one of the hardest scouting asks in sports. But once I know that won’t happen, as NC or as Watson, for both parties to truly prosper, we need to go separate ways. If not, this ordeal can spin out for another decade and taint future young men from believing the Houston Texans can win a title. As much as I enjoy watching Deshaun Watson, I want to see a Houston title before I die.
And to be honest with most of you here, either side of the Watson discussion, we all want the same thing. A Houston Texans Super Bowl celebration.