Number19
Hall of Fame
Civil cases are a team concern because Watson could be away from team activities for periods of time, and in the case of trials, possibly weeks at a time. If this were to occur during the season, he could miss games. Also, once the legal stuff got underway, this is when the exempt list would be used until everything was resolved.I disagree. There are no criminal charges against Watson or they would have happened by now. As any civil trial gets closer, negotiations will increase. The civil suits are nothing that money won't make go away.
I have to believe that if the NFL allows a trade to happen, then it means they will not put him on the exempt list. Any team that trades for him will surely do their due diligence and confirm this with the league office. There will be several teams willing to trade draft capital for a proven franchise QB.
I don't think 3 first round picks is too high a price for a 25 year old franchise QB coming into his prime when more than 50% of first round picks are nothing special More Than 50% Of First Round Picks Are Busts And Other Terrifying Draft Statistics (theriotreport.com). We tend to over value those birds in the bush.
How many people remember that Ray Lewis was complicit in the murder of 2 men?Ray Lewis Murder Trial: What Happened and Who Was Involved? | Fanbuzz. And yet he is celebrated as one of the best players ever - even landing a gig as an analyst after his playing career ended.
Texans management has totally (and typically) mismanaged the whole situation. We need to get the most we can for Watson in both draft capital and players and move on.
I think it's possible that once he is traded, the check book might come out to make everything go away.
I think the real fly in the soup is the possibility for the criminal cases. Up to a point Watson could have these charges dropped with sufficent dollars paid to the defendants. But if a criminal case goes to trial, Watson is faced with prison if convicted.
Criminal charges could come at any time and I disagree that it's too late because of the backlog and because the investigation is time consuming. I do question on whether there is sufficent supporting evidence.
I think there is too much uncertainty for the Texans to get maximum value. If they are willing to come down to a single 1st rounder, I think a team would bite. But I'm hearing the Texans are standing firm on their asking price of maximum value.