As unfair as it is, each week during the 2021 season is a tryout for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, a weekly chance for him to prove he deserves the job beyond this season.
This latest rumor is a perfect example of the pressure he is under.
Speaking on Pro Football Talk, NFL analyst Chris Simms says he has heard that owner Jeffrey Lurie has given Howie Roseman permission to make a trade for Houston Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson, who has been accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior by 22 women in different civil lawsuits.
Here is what Simms had to say:
“Philadelphia is in that mix for the Deshaun Watson thing. That’s a real thing from everything that I know. The owner (Jeffrey Lurie) has given them the green light as far as Howie Roseman and company to go ahead and make that deal if it’s right.”
Simms’ report comes on the heels of NFL Insider Jay Glazer reporting the Texans are lowering their price in a trade for Watson, and said he believes Miami is the logical destination. He did not mention the Eagles. Glazer followed up his report from this past weekend on Wednesday saying it was a situation to keep an eye on.
Watson is currently eligible to play despite being under investigation, but if a team were to trade for him, there is a chance he would be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, preventing him from taking the field until his legal situation is resolved.
There are a few takeaways from the latest reports surrounding Watson.
The first is that the Eagles being tied to Watson is not surprising. The team was interested in trying to trade for him during the offseason. Multiple reports at the time, however, said that Watson was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to come to the Eagles. Instead, he is interested it seems in going to Miami. If Watson doesn’t want to come to Philadelphia there is nothing the Eagles can do about it since he has a no-trade clause in his contract.
Another important part of this is the timing.
Simms doesn’t mention when he heard Lurie had given the green light for a deal. It is possible this is something he heard during the offseason, or he just heard it now, but the “green light” was given months ago. The timing is important because this report is coming off of a game in which Hurts struggled, and was given during a larger discussion about his poor game against Dallas. It is very possible, if not extremely likely, that any “green light” that Lurie gave to a Watson deal came during the summer, and was not a reaction to Hurts struggling the last two weeks.
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If Lurie is indeed OK with his team acquiring Watson, however, that would clear one major hurdle in a deal getting done, since Watson’s current legal situation poses a moral question for any team interested in trading for him.
The fact this report is coming out now, on the heels of Hurts’ worst game with the Eagles, is a perfect example of the pressure the second-year quarterback is under.
Every time Hurts has a bad game this season there will be discussion and reaction on whether he is the answer for the future at the position. He is not going to be given the time to learn and develop that other young quarterbacks get. It is not a coincidence that Watson’s name comes up each time Hurts struggles. It is unfair, but it is the reality of the situation Hurts is in.
The question now is whether Hurts can play well enough before the trade deadline, which is on Nov. 2nd, to convince the Eagles to not once again pursue a potential Watson trade.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
