The Las Vegas Raiders are another team linked to quarterback Deshaun Watson. However, the Raiders coach may not buy that the Houston Texans are actually going to deal their three-time Pro Bowler.
Jon Gruden joined NBC Sunday Night Football commentator Cris Collinsworth’s podcast and talked about the possibility of Watson being traded.
“I personally look at this like a fantasy world,” Gruden said via Doug Farrar of the Touchdown Wire. “They have a new GM [Nick Caserio] who just went through a year in New England without Tom Brady. I think he has a pretty good idea just how important Deshaun Watson is to the Texans. I don’t think there’s any way in the world they trade Deshaun Watson. And if they did, the compensation would be like… they’d have to give up seven No. 1 [draft picks].”
Former New York Jets general manager and ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum suggested it could take three first-round picks and a star player to appropriately compensate the Texans for the loss of a franchise quarterback.
Though there are rumors the Raiders are exploring options to trade Derek Carr and could be in the Watson sweepstakes themselves, Gruden believes the Texans and Watson will ultimately heal their tense relationship.
Said Gruden: “I just think there’s a lot going on. Deshaun’s a great player, he’s a great kid, and I’m sure he’s very emotional right now for a number of reasons. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him that he’s going to be a great quarterback for a long time in Houston. He already signed that contract, and he’ll be a big part of that rebuild.”
The Texans are the talk of the NFL in February, and not in a way Houston sports fans appreciate. Until chairman and CEO Cal McNair can find a way to fix the problems with Watson, the Texans will continue to be on the tip of everyone’s tongues.
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