Deshaun Watson’s relationship with the Houston Texans has soured in the blink of an eye. Six months after signing a four-year, $160 million extension with the franchise that drafted him, Watson wants out – and it’s not hard to see why.
He was told by ownership that he would be involved in the Texans’ search for a new GM and head coach, but he was ultimately left out of that discussion, which didn’t sit well with him. Now, he seems prepared to hold out for as long as it takes until the Texans trade him.
Jalen Ramsey and Watson share an agent, David Mulugheta, and the two know each other off the field. Ramsey has backed Watson in his stance wholeheartedly and knowing the quarterback, he doubts Watson ever plays for the Texans again.
Ramsey was on the “Huddle and Flow” podcast with Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter, and he shared his thoughts on Watson’s plan to hold out, even if it costs him millions.
“He’s extremely serious,” Ramsey said. “At the end of the day, Deshaun is a great man. I can say that first and foremost. He’s a great man, I’m telling you, a servant leader. Even now with people trying to crucify him and talk bad on his name, he’s still out there doing things for the community for Houston. He’s a great man, he’s a professional. He’s going to do things that are still positive around the community and probably help his teammates after this. But I highly doubt he’ll ever suit up in a Texans uniform again. He’s very serious. I would say he’s very serious. This is his legacy. He should be serious.”
The Texans are refusing to trade Watson, hoping to mend their broken relationship with the star quarterback. That probably won’t end the way they want, however, because Watson certainly seems dug in on his stance in forcing his way out of Houston.
Some fans have taken exception to the way Watson has handled this less than a year after signing an extension with the Texans, but Ramsey points out that Watson earned his contract. It wasn’t handed to him by the Texans.
And from the outside looking in, Ramsey thinks the Texans haven’t held up their end of the bargain of including Watson in the decision-making process.
“This is something he earned. He wasn’t given this contract,” Ramsey said. “So that’s Step 1 of where people mess up. Like, ‘Man, they gave him this contract.’ They didn’t give him nothing. He earned every dollar of that for what he was putting on that field, putting on the community, doing for that franchise. He earned every dollar of that, first of all. And second of all, you have the opportunity to not only change your life, but your family’s lives and you’re not supposed to take that? Come on, let’s be real. Anybody in America is going to take that. Anybody ever is going to take that.
“You don’t give somebody that much power and then give them no power and essentially (expletive) on ‘em, not value them, not show them that they’re worth all of that. You don’t do that. So I’m sure there’s a sense of, ‘OK, I’ve got y’all ear a little bit. Y’all hear me. Decisions here, decisions there. We’re going to work together, in a sense a partnership’ and they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. But what has he done? He’s continued to hold up his end of the bargain.”
No one truly knows how this standoff between the Texans and Watson will end, but Ramsey is convinced their time together won’t last much longer. He wants nothing but success for Watson, whatever that may be.
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