Deshaun Watson never will take another snap for the Texans. Not in a game, not in a practice. Not even in an organized team activity this spring.
Well, that’s what Jalen Ramsey believes, at least.
Watson’s desire to move on from Houston has been made pretty clear at this point. The only problem for the star quarterback thus far is the Texans haven’t budged. Watson, of course, only can change teams if Houston picks up the phone.
But Ramsey, who shares an agent with Watson, believes the star signal-caller is willing to play hardball if that’s the route the Texans want to go down.
“Extremely serious, he’s extremely serious,” Ramsey said on NFL Network’s “Huddle & Flow” podcast, as transcribed by NFL.com. “At the end of the day, Deshaun is a great man. A servant leader. Even now when people are trying to crucify him and talk bad on his name, he’s still out there doing things for the community in Houston. So he’s a great man. He’s a professional. He’s going to still do things that are positive in the community and probably still help his teammates out.
“But I highly doubt he’ll ever suit up in a Texans uniform again. He’s very serious. I will say he’s very serious. This is his legacy here, I mean, he should be serious.”
Should the Texans make Watson available, the 25-year-old then would hold all of the cards as it pertains to his next step. The no-trade clause in his contract effectively allows Watson to dictate where is he dealt. Fortunately for Houston, Watson reportedly would approve trades to a few teams that can put together significant trade packages.
If Watson’s trade desire is as strong as Ramsey claims, the Texans probably should bite the bullet and lean into the silver lining of the situation. You never want to trade a player of Watson’s caliber, but Houston’s rebuild potentially could be fast-tracked by what it likely would receive in exchange for the three-time Pro Bowl selection.
