Deshaun Watson has agreed to return to the Houston Texans, but his decision is definitely fueled by financial reasons and nothing else.
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The Texans quarterback has had the most bizzare and tumultuous of offseasons in recent memory. At first, reports came out that Watson was incredibly unhappy with the Houston front office and management. That anger reached a boiling point as Watson eventually demanded a trade out of Houston.
The trade demand itself was pretty shocking, but then things escalated dramatically when 22 lawsuits were filed against Watson on the grounds of sexual assualt and harrassment. Teams that were interested in Watson pulled out of the race and things seemed to be crumbling for the young star.
The legal issues will take time to resolve as Watson has maintained he did nothing, but in the meantime, Watson has reported back to the Houston Texans for training camp. Good news for Texans fans right? Nope. The move is merely based on money.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson will report to the Texans today to avoid being fined $50K per day during their training camp, per @WerderEdESPN. Watson’s trade request remains in effect, with source saying nothing has changed in that regard.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 25, 2021
Deshaun Watson Saved Himself $1.4 Million By Coming To Training Camp, Reiterates Trade Request
Those $50,000 a day really add up when you consider the number of practices Watson would be missing if he held out of training camp.
With 28 total training sessions, Watson would have to end up paying $1.4 million in fines for missing training camp. Despite his wish to leave Houston, that much money seems unncessary to waste.
Watson did confirm that he still wants out of the Texans as the two sides were unable to mend their broken relationship. The Texans have also finally let up on their firm stance of not trading the superstar as they’re open to listening to trade offers now, but the asking price is reportedly extremely high.
For Deshaun Watson, the @Texans price has been some combination of 5 high draft picks and starting caliber players, per two league executives.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) July 26, 2021
How did the situation become like this to where Watson, who signed a massive four-year, $156 million extension ahead of the 2020 season, wants out so early in his NFL career?
Well, when the Texans hired Dave Culley and Nick Caserio this offseason, they reportedly did not consult Watson which infuriated the quarterback. Additionally, questionable roster decisions (like trading away DeAndre Hopkins) really had the star quarterback questioning his future with the team.
