Ex-NFL GM: Deshaun Watson trade amid lawsuits ‘suicidal’
While the 25-year-old is a talented quarterback, former Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints general manager Randy Mueller
told NJ Advance Media trading for Watson “would be suicidal.”
On paper, adding one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL would help many teams, but according to Mueller, Watson’s legal troubles make a trade difficult.
Depositions for the civil suits will begin this September. Watson will not be deposed until after the NFL season in February 2022, as per an agreement between the two legal teams.
“I don’t know that they’re going to be able to vet it completely,” Mueller said. “I don’t know that the league is going to come clean with their investigation, and I think they’ve purposely put the brakes on it, thinking that it would take its legal course first. There’s just a lot of open-ended questions that I don’t think are [capable of being vetted] at this point.”
“Him coming in is a good business move for him,” Mueller said. “It also starts the clock on some of this happening. This starts the clock on: what is the league and what are the Texans going to do? It would have stayed in limbo had he not come in.”
He was a senior executive with the Chargers when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger received a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy in 2010. While he was never criminally charged, Roethlisberger was
accused of sexual assault by a 20-year-old college student.
After meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Roethlisberger’s suspension was reduced to six games, and he went back to his NFL career. Watson’s case is different, however, considering how many women have come forward.
“This [situation] is a few more cases, and there may or may not be charges,” Mueller said.
“I don’t know if [Watson] plays this year at all. I don’t know how he could.”
Former NFL GM Randy Mueller doesn’t see why any team would trade for Deshaun Watson as lawsuits continue to swirl around the Texans QB.
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