Deshaun Watson Rumors: Texans Have This Massive Asking Price For QB

Deshaun Watson is one of the best quarterbacks in all of football, which means he’s also one of the league’s most valuable trade chips.

Knowing this, the Houston Texans reportedly will not move their superstar signal-caller unless an interested team meets their steep demands.

ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter on Sunday provided new intel on that said asking price, which is a combination of players and draft picks.

From Schefter’s report:

The Houston Texans sought a package of six players and draft picks from teams interested in trading for star quarterback Deshaun Watson this past summer, league sources tell ESPN.

Whether the package consisted of one player and five draft picks or two players and four picks, the Texans were unwilling to budge from their trade price for Watson, who remains on their roster even though he will not be active for Sunday’s season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Texans do not plan to play Watson at all this season, but sources around the league believe Houston general manager Nick Caserio will not trade the three-time Pro Bowler for anything less than the six combined players and picks.

Watson’s situation obviously is a complicated one. The 25-year-old currently faces over 20 active civil lawsuits stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior. With Watson’s legal matters still very much ongoing and up in the air, interested teams are inclined to attach conditions to any draft picks included in a potential trade package, per Schefter.

Houston also appears to be in no rush to move Watson. According to Schefter, the Texans are prepared to have the fifth-year pro on their 53-man roster for the duration of the 2021 season.