Houston’s ongoing saga with Deshaun Watson doesn’t seem to be slowing down, as the Texans now reportedly are committed to fixing their relationship with Watson rather than trading him, despite his widely reported trade request. The news that the Texans don’t want to deal Watson came from Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle shortly after Houston announced its new head coach.
Deshaun Watson has requested a trade from the Texans, according to league sources. Has a no trade clause in his $156 million contract. Texans don't want to trade Watson and want to repair the relationship. This is a big step in the disconnect between Pro Bowl passer and Texans
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 28, 2021
Though it remains to be seen what new head coach David Culley can do for the Texans’ fortunes, the problem is Watson’s trade request does not seem to solely be based on wanting to win elsewhere. Houston has a new general manager and head coach, so if it were just about a fresh start after the Bill O’Brien era, one would think Watson would see things through for another season with new leadership.
Instead, the nature of Houston’s GM and coaching searches is among the things that really bothered Watson. A new report from Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports does signal that the Texans have optimism about Culley potentially connecting better with Watson than O’Brien could, but it’s hard to say whether that’s still possible.
1. A ton of Culley advocates coming out of the woodwork in a text-a-thon who are over the moon with the #Texans hire. Describing Culley as a big energy, positive culture guy who connects with players. A few have said that if DeShaun Watson has open ears, Culley will reach him.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) January 28, 2021
With a no-trade clause and his status as the team’s most important player by far, Watson seemingly holds the leverage here, but of course, the Texans don’t have to act now. With the new braintrust in place, they seem to want to try one last time to convince Watson to stay put. Then again, the last time a professional sports team in Houston took this approach, they ended up parting with their star player, anyway.
