Report: Deshaun Watson planning to meet with more team after Saints, Panthers

While news that Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson will be meeting with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers has already emerged, according to new reports, Watson is supposed to meet with more teams by the end of Tuesday. The new teams thrown into the mix have not been named as of this writing.

The Saints and Panthers have been given first priority in terms of speaking to Watson about a deal, and others will fall in line after that. One team that won’t be in the mix — the Indianapolis Colts, who the Texans have blocked from negotiating with its star quarterback. According to Adam Schefter, the Texans are willing to trade Watson, just not in the AFC South.

Watson, who sat out the entire NFL season while under investigation after 22 women accused the quarterback of various acts of sexual assault and harassment, has a no-trade clause in his $156 million contract, so the landing spot may ultimately be up to him. The Panthers and the Saints must certainly be offering enough to interest the Texans during the early-stages of Watson’s trade saga, but other teams are beginning to emerge with offers of their own. As it stands, the only person that might know where Watson will land is the Texans’ quarterback himself.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is determined to land Watson and is prepared to make aggressive, roster-shaking moves to pull this off, according to profootballnetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson. For any team willing to give the Texans a package of at least three first-round draft picks, other draft capital and players in exchange for Watson is the deal they’re looking for, according to the same report.

One team that has been mentioned, the Seattle Seahawks, who just traded their franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, could potentially give up more than the Panthers and Saints, peaking the interest of the higher ups inside the Houston organization.

The Seahawks have enough space in their salary cap space to absorb Watson’s $35 million guaranteed salary for 2022 thanks to the fact they cut linebacker Bobby Wagner, which brings a surplus of $49.22 million, per NFL Players Association records.

The Texans have to sign off on any trade parameters regarding any team thanks to clauses in Watsons’ contract, but Watson gets the final say. No deal is imminent or developing at this time, whether that be with the Saints, Panthers or any other team interested.