Now that quarterback Deshaun Watson has completed his third professional season with the Houston Texans, he is eligible to enter into contract extension talks with the club that drafted him in the first-round of the 2017 NFL draft.
However, coach Bill O’Brien, who is an influential part of the Texans’ five-man general managing council, doesn’t have any specific information on when the club would start negotiations with their franchise quarterback.
“Relative to those things, I really don’t want to talk about those things publicly,” O’Brien told reporters Monday. “I can tell you publicly, though, that we obviously want the Deshaun Watson here for a long, long time. We want him to be a Houston Texan for his career. He is a great person, he’s a great football player and he means a lot to this organization, to this city, to this league.”
Watson instantly brought promise and hope to quarterback his rookie season, even though he hadn’t taken a single snap for the organization. Until his untimely ACL tear in practice on Nov. 2, 2017, the Texans were 3-4 on the season and possibly could have won the division that year, as the eventual winner, the Jacksonville Jaguars, were 10-6. Or, the Texans could have qualified as a wild-card as both the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds were 9-7 each that year. Instead, the Texans faded to a 4-12 finish without Watson.
With Watson under center for two full seasons, the Texans are 21-11 with two AFC South titles and a playoff win. There is no question that the former Clemson Tiger gives Houston the best chance at postseason success.
“I just don’t want to get into the nuts and bolts of when you would do that and all those different things,” said O’Brien. “Those things take time, but we want him here for a long time.”
Watson will be entering the fourth and final year of his contract, unless the club exercises a fifth-year option. The Texans may want to get out ahead of the QB signings as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is also on a similar timeline and could set the market for the Texans if they get a deal done sooner.