Deshaun Watson: Crazy trade idea for the Denver Broncos

A crazy Deshaun Watson trade idea for the Denver Broncos.

The offseason is off to a roaring start for the Denver Broncos. General manager John Elway has been promoted within the organization but will no longer be the GM of the team, and his top assistant executive Matt Russell has also retired. There will be a new GM in Denver and the most critical decision to be made will be what to do at the quarterback position.

Could Deshaun Watson be an option?

This post is not meant to be clickbait, so please, continue entertaining this idea for the moment.

Why should this idea be discussed and why is it worthy of a post?

First of all, there are some rumblings that Deshaun Watson could be seeking a trade this offseason.

As the Texans walked off the field for their last game of the 2020 season, legendary Houston defensive lineman JJ Watt apologized to Watson for the team ‘wasting’ one of his years in the NFL.

Watson does not seem like the type of person who would demand a trade out of Houston, but if there was ever a time for him to do so, it would be now.

The Texans are coming off of an absolutely horrendous year as a team, filled with injuries and repercussions of Bill O’Brien’s horrific roster-building strategies. O’Brien was fired in-season, leaving the Texans with no head coach or general manager.

The Texans have recently brought in New England Patriots executive Nick Caserio as their general manager on a six-year deal and obviously no one is going to assume that Caserio’s first order of business will be to trade away his best player.

With that being said, Watson is the last remaining great asset that Caserio has and on a six-year contract, he’s going to have time to build the roster he wants and implement the culture he’s hoping to bring from New England.

Ideally, Watson would be part of that, but what if Watson doesn’t want to be?

It’s not Caserio’s fault that Bill O’Brien essentially traded DeAndre Hopkins for Brandin Cooks and David Johnson. It’s not Caserio’s fault that O’Brien traded way too much draft capital for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who is taking up over 10 percent of the Texans’ salary cap in 2021.

It’s also not Caserio’s fault that the Texans are nearly $21 million in the red with their 2021 cap space, but that’s a reality.

For the time being, the Texans also don’t have a head coach, although that will obviously change.

Again I will ask the question — what better time could there possibly be for Watson to request a trade?

The Texans’ roster needs a lot of work, and they don’t have a first or second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Caserio, working on a six-year deal, has to look at the big picture here and he would have to get Deshaun Watson to completely buy in. Will Watson do that? Maybe, maybe not.

If he does demand a trade, the Denver Broncos could make a competitive offer. Watson is the type of player who would require a borderline unprecedented offer in order for anyone — especially a new GM — to trade him away.

Here’s an idea…

Denver Broncos get:

• QB Deshaun Watson
• 2021 4th-round pick
• 2022 4th-round pick

Houston Texans get:

• QB Drew Lock
• WR Tim Patrick
• 2021 1st-round pick
• 2021 2nd-round pick
• 2022 1st-round pick
• 2022 2nd-round pick
• 2023 1st-round pick

On the surface, this kind of trade looks absolutely insane, but think about for a moment if the Broncos were the team dealing with a star quarterback like Watson, a 25-year old MVP candidate at the most important position in sports, potentially demanding a trade. Would you want to accept anything less than a king’s ransom?

With a player like Watson on board, draft picks are borderline negligible for the Broncos or any acquiring team. The Broncos have a strong offensive line in place. They have tons of skill players offensively. They could allocate free agent dollars and remaining draft capital to the defensive side of the ball for the next couple of years.

Watson is a player who should, in theory, raise all boats more consistently than not. Trading away three first-round picks and multiple second-round picks for a player like that plus two key players is frankly a low price to pay.

As on-board as I am personally for the Drew Lock era, if Watson is truly available this offseason and the Texans need only to be blown away by an offer, there is no way whoever the new GM of the Denver Broncos is should scoff at that chance.

Watson’s contract is palatable as is but will be a bargain in two or three years.

Paying a premium price for a quarterback like this is something just about any NFL team with a semblance of a need at the quarterback position should consider. Watson is a superstar and game-changer at the position and should be treated as such in any real trade negotiations.

This kind of trade is mostly unprecedented in NFL history, though the Denver Broncos were on the other side of a similar situation in 2009 when Josh McDaniels came in and traded away Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton, multiple first-round picks, and additional draft capital.

Cutler, at the time, was a young and budding star at the position, but he had not proven himself close to the caliber of a player like Watson.

If you’re one to place bets, the safe bet is obviously that Watson will be under center for the Texans in 2021, the team will focus on reloading assets and getting off of bad contracts in 2021, and really getting back into building the roster aggressively in 2022.

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Still, Watson could force the issue and if he does, the Broncos could potentially make a competitive offer to acquire him.