The Carolina Panthers are out of the Deshaun Watson trade sweepstakes.
According to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, who heavily cited the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the NFC South team will not be pursuing the Houston Texans’ three-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
The only team for which Watson has waived his no-trade clause is the Miami Dolphins, and they may be the only team in the running as the Nov. 2 trade deadline approaches.
Arguably the biggest complication to executing a trade has been Watson’s off-field issues. The former 2017 first-round pick is currently a defendant in a lawsuit wherein 22 women allege sexual assault. Not only have there been 10 criminal complaints filed with the Houston Police Department and an FBI probe, but the NFL is conducting its own investigation. The possibility is a team could give up a franchise quarterback’s ransom for Watson, and his off-field issues land him on the commissioner’s exempt list or result in a lengthy suspension.