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QB Deshaun Watson, CLE (2 Viewers)

Yea I guess it's possible and I don't think


Baker


will be a problem child over any of it. I'm just am picking up on various comments that to me seem like Browns are ready to move on. But other then


Watson


for what?  The other options seem unilateral at best.
Matt Ryan?

We now know he's available.

 
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports both the Panthers and Saints are offering at least three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson. 

Rapsheet also reports the Falcons are still seeking a meeting. Watson met with the Browns on Tuesday evening. Rapoport's gut is that the Saints are in an "advantageous" position. This seems close to a resolution, but that has been the case for several days. 

RELATED: 

Carolina Panthers

, New Orleans Saints

, Cleveland Browns

SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter 

Mar 15, 2022, 10:41 PM ET

 
A 3-way Bidding War in the NFC South...just incredible and had Brady not un-retired it might have been a 4-way battle because Tampa Bay was linked very early to Watson. 

 
Man, all this for a guy with one playoff win and hasn't played in a year. Aside from his age, I'm not sure why he's worth this king's bounty. Are the Saints or Panthers a QB away from a Super Bowl? Maybe. I don't know, but I don't get paid the big GM bucks either.

 
Man, all this for a guy with one playoff win and hasn't played in a year. Aside from his age, I'm not sure why he's worth this king's bounty. Are the Saints or Panthers a QB away from a Super Bowl? Maybe. I don't know, but I don't get paid the big GM bucks either.
This has to be a troll post.  Dude posted 4800 yards and 38TDs in 2020 at age 24.  Barring major injury and illicit massage tables, he has 10-12 years left in the tank.  He is the true definition of a franchise QB.

GMs are thinking they take a 2 year hit on 1st/2nd round picks and they've got a decade left with one of the best QBs in the league.

 
This has to be a troll post.  Dude posted 4800 yards and 38TDs in 2020 at age 24.  Barring major injury and illicit massage tables, he has 10-12 years left in the tank.  He is the true definition of a franchise QB.

GMs are thinking they take a 2 year hit on 1st/2nd round picks and they've got a decade left with one of the best QBs in the league.
Not a troll post. It's an opinion. Like I said, he has age on his side. Okay. He had a great age 24 with Hopkins, which is nice for fantasy football. He also hasn't played real football in a year and we have no idea if/how long a suspension looms in the future.

I read teams are offering three first-rounders. For that you get a guy for maybe four years (sign a seven year deal with the back end voidable). Then IF he feels like playing for you and IF you can afford to sign him, you might get the privilege of signing an extension. If he's bored with your team, he'll demand his way out of town. That's not just Watson; it's the NFL these days. 

Is that worth three first round picks PLUS later picks PLUS players? Maybe. I'm not excited about it, but like I said, I'm not a GM. But if he doesn't bring a ring to his new team, it's a bum deal. A playoff team isn't enough return imo. Are the Panthers that close to a ring? The Falcons? Who is a QB away from a championship, like the Rams last season? Maybe the 49ers, but they're committed to Lance. Can you think of a team? 

 
Man, all this for a guy with one playoff win and hasn't played in a year. Aside from his age, I'm not sure why he's worth this king's bounty. Are the Saints or Panthers a QB away from a Super Bowl? Maybe. I don't know, but I don't get paid the big GM bucks either.


Not a troll post. It's an opinion. Like I said, he has age on his side. Okay. He had a great age 24 with Hopkins, which is nice for fantasy football. He also hasn't played real football in a year and we have no idea if/how long a suspension looms in the future.

I read teams are offering three first-rounders. For that you get a guy for maybe four years (sign a seven year deal with the back end voidable). Then IF he feels like playing for you and IF you can afford to sign him, you might get the privilege of signing an extension. If he's bored with your team, he'll demand his way out of town. That's not just Watson; it's the NFL these days. 

Is that worth three first round picks PLUS later picks PLUS players? Maybe. I'm not excited about it, but like I said, I'm not a GM. But if he doesn't bring a ring to his new team, it's a bum deal. A playoff team isn't enough return imo. Are the Panthers that close to a ring? The Falcons? Who is a QB away from a championship, like the Rams last season? Maybe the 49ers, but they're committed to Lance. Can you think of a team? 
Hi NBZ,

I also have similar impressions and should Watson get a hefty suspension after he is traded, maybe over the summer when Roger Goodell is feeling like dropping his gavel down, i can see Watson getting a longer suspension than Big Ben did when he was suspended 6 games for conduct detrimental to the NFL...where does this stack up? 

IF IF IF he were suspended all of 2022 which isn't likely but it needs to be discussed...he would literally go 30 months between meaningful snaps and despite his age it could be an obstacle to get back to his peak performances. Did he pad stats in the 2nd half of games that were blowouts on a 4-12 season in 2020? Who can say but Watson has been out of football for over a year already and it will be 18-20 months between snaps if he takes the field in September. 

I didn't read your posts as trolling at all, but I'm confident whichever team trades for him will likely change the arc of their franchise, hard to deny that. 

Cheers Bud!

 
deeeeeeeep breath. i dont wanna be letdown, and im praying that baker post last night was cuz he knows, and not just out of anger. 
Good luck Soul, I will share a quick story. I'm at my usual after Tennis Saturday at my very close to the house Cantina and a fellow from Cleveland pulled up beside me and we figure out quickly we both enjoy Tennis. 

-I played Doubles with him the following morning with my weekend crew and he had a ball teaming up with me as we mowed thru the rest of the field and talked about Cleveland. I enjoy meeting people from that area of the country when they visit South Florida. 

If Watson ends up in NO or Car or Atl...I root for TB besides Miami so i can't root for Watson at all in those places BUT Cleveland on the other hand is a city I usually pull for, it goes back to Art Modell selling the team to Baltimore. That's still an expansion team using the Browns logo  :lmao:

I would enjoy Watson in Cleveland of all the teams mentioned, would love him more as a Miami Dolphin but it isn't meant to be. Good luck reeling him in. 

-What if Myles Garrett is part of the trade offer? Won't happen but that would be a painful loss. 

 
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Not a troll post. It's an opinion. Like I said, he has age on his side. Okay. He had a great age 24 with Hopkins, which is nice for fantasy football. He also hasn't played real football in a year and we have no idea if/how long a suspension looms in the future.

I read teams are offering three first-rounders. For that you get a guy for maybe four years (sign a seven year deal with the back end voidable). Then IF he feels like playing for you and IF you can afford to sign him, you might get the privilege of signing an extension. If he's bored with your team, he'll demand his way out of town. That's not just Watson; it's the NFL these days. 

Is that worth three first round picks PLUS later picks PLUS players? Maybe. I'm not excited about it, but like I said, I'm not a GM. But if he doesn't bring a ring to his new team, it's a bum deal. A playoff team isn't enough return imo. Are the Panthers that close to a ring? The Falcons? Who is a QB away from a championship, like the Rams last season? Maybe the 49ers, but they're committed to Lance. Can you think of a team? 
DeAndre Hopkins was in Arizona when Watson posted those numbers.  David Johnson posted a pedestrian 700 yards with 8 TDs.  His WR room was Will Fuller (75/850/8) and Brandon Cooks (119/1150/6).  His front office was an absolute train wreck and still is.  Bill O'Brien was fired 4 games in and Romeo Crennel stepped up and finished out the season.  Watson, IMO rightfully, wanted out of what was a really bad situation.  He formally requested a trade with Houston and hasn't complained on social media or to any other media outlets.

Nobody knows what kind of suspension he gets.  Precedence with other non-criminally charged players like Big Ben point to 6 games.  So that 7 year deal becomes 6.5 and he doesn't get paid salary while on suspension.  Still seems like a good deal for a team like CLE who has a top 10 DEF, solid OL and one of the best RB tandems in the league.  CAR?  Maybe not so much as a contender, but we have seen that next level QB play helps position teams to make a superbowl run.  We also know that even with all the cards in the right place, the superbowl might not happen.

 
Article below wrote this morning from Joe Banner.  If you don't want to read it he does not consider Atlanta as a real candidate, continues to think Seattle and Philadelphia are in the mix . He considers Saints and Carolina the favorite.  He's a bit plugged in so I posted the link but I think he's off base to have Seattle still in the mix(and maybe Philly) while excluding Atlanta. I do agree the Saints and Carolina should be considered the favorites.

https://www.the33rdteam.com/who-could-land-deshaun-watson/

 
I would think the Browns could throw the most at Houston as they have a good team in place already and might not need as many draft picks to build a contender. Same with New Orleans. If Carolina gives up 5-6 premium picks for this guy I don’t see how they build a contender anytime soon. 

 
I would think the Browns could throw the most at Houston as they have a good team in place already and might not need as many draft picks to build a contender. Same with New Orleans. If Carolina gives up 5-6 premium picks for this guy I don’t see how they build a contender anytime soon. 
People keep talking about a bidding war.  There is no bidding war.(though that might not be what you are saying)

Houston has to agree on compensation prior to Watson even meeting with anyone.

Once Watson picks a team, it doesnt matter what else anyone else offers.

 
I will be interested to see how this plays out given the salary cap ramifications of a Watson trade. For starters, the Texans would take a $51M cap hit if he is traded before June. They only have $11M in cap room at the moment. It makes way more sense for Houston to wait until June, when they will only have to eat $16M across and can spread out the cap hit across two seasons.

Teams acquiring Watson will have to fit Watson's $35M cap hit under the cap to acquire him. They have to be under the cap with Watson's salary at the time the trade is completed. As of now, here are the cap situations for teams said to be in the mix.

NOS -$6.5M
CLE $12M
CAR $30M
ATL $35M
SEA $39M

Sure, any of those teams could redo contracts to get under the cap. But they would have to do that first, and that would also limit who else they could sign the rest of the way.

 
Cleveland can get under the cap easy.  Bye bye Baker, restructure Amari Cooper.  Done.  

Once Watson picks a spot and all the handshake deals are in place, the team will have a little time to make some contract moves.  

Also someone mentioned the Browns super bowl odds moved from 40-1 to 25-1 an hour ago.  The site I just looked at still has 40-1

 
I will be interested to see how this plays out given the salary cap ramifications of a Watson trade. For starters, the Texans would take a $51M cap hit if he is traded before June
No that's if they cut him and had to eat the $35M guarantee. If they trade him before June 1 they save $24M against the cap with a $16m dead money charge. They would save even more if they traded him after June 1st however.

 
Cleveland can get under the cap easy.  Bye bye Baker, restructure Amari Cooper.  Done.  
And any team can push almost all of Deshaun's $35M base into a bonus, not that he'd object to this but you don't need his permission to do this either. 

Bottom line is Houston saves cap space dealing him and Watson is very easy to fit in any teams cap.

 
And that sir, is the issue. They would have also won 4 games with Brady, Rodgers, or whoever you stick in the QB spot with that roster and coaching staff in 2020. 


Watson was the best player in the NFL south of GB in 2020. Not his fault his defense was incompetent. The Texans were 2-8 in games decided in the last 2 minutes. 
Fair enough.  These teams trading for him are about to sell their futures (and souls) to get him on their team.  We'll see what kind of talent they can surround him with when the Texans have their "5 assets."

 
Dang, starting to look like bad call on my part thinking this would be done today. Still think it’s within next few days but disappointed we are not their yet.

 
Dang, starting to look like bad call on my part thinking this would be done today. Still think it’s within next few days but disappointed we are not their yet.
Guys on Saintsreport talking like today is some sort of deadline for Watson -- and not an internal Saints deadline, but something with the league. Is that not the case?

 
I will be interested to see how this plays out given the salary cap ramifications of a Watson trade. For starters, the Texans would take a $51M cap hit if he is traded before June. They only have $11M in cap room at the moment. It makes way more sense for Houston to wait until June, when they will only have to eat $16M across and can spread out the cap hit across two seasons.

Teams acquiring Watson will have to fit Watson's $35M cap hit under the cap to acquire him. They have to be under the cap with Watson's salary at the time the trade is completed. As of now, here are the cap situations for teams said to be in the mix.

NOS -$6.5M
CLE $12M
CAR $30M
ATL $35M
SEA $39M

Sure, any of those teams could redo contracts to get under the cap. But they would have to do that first, and that would also limit who else they could sign the rest of the way.
Watson's cap hit to the Texans if traded is $16.2m.

He has a guaranteed $35m salary that would be paid by the team traded to.

$51m would be the cap hit only if he is CUT not TRADED

Watson would be owed $35m in guaranteed salary by the team traded to. However, Watson should jump at the chance to restructure as much of that as possible into a signing bonus. 

The reason being the suspension. If he's suspended for, say, a half season, he loses 1/2 * $35m salary. If he converts, say, $34m to signing bonus prorated over the remaining 4 years of the contract, then he only loses 1/2 of this year's proration.  So lose 1/2 of $35m or lose 1/2 of 1/4 of $34m is around $4m.

Which also results in big cap savings for the team that restructures him of course, lowering his cap hit to a bit over $8m.

Also the Saints have made a lot of moves and are like $4m over the cap last I saw.

 
Guys on Saintsreport talking like today is some sort of deadline for Watson -- and not an internal Saints deadline, but something with the league. Is that not the case?
Definitely not.

Everyone wants it done, because FA is going on, but Watson can make 4 teams wait a day or two. 

 
deeeeeeeep breath. i dont wanna be letdown, and im praying that baker post last night was cuz he knows, and not just out of anger. 
This is from Mort, so take with whatever salt you deem relevant:

"They are breaking up. Regardless of whether Watson ends up in Cleveland. The one thing I was told was it's not a match emotionally. While Mayfield's passion and emotional leadership was embraced at Oklahoma and even in the beginning with the Browns, things have changed.  They want what they consider 'an adult' at the position, and that Mayfield probably is going to be moved."

He did air quotes twice when using the term "an adult".

 
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Posts on Eagles thread imply it is a done deal… I don’t buy it but interesting since they were “out of the Watson parade”!

Atl holding the Ryan contract restructure is also interesting since it allows them flexibility in Cap issues 

 
Posts on Eagles thread imply it is a done deal… I don’t buy it but interesting since they were “out of the Watson parade”!

Atl holding the Ryan contract restructure is also interesting since it allows them flexibility in Cap issues 
I was under the impression they’d be restructuring Ryan regardless, so that one is a head-scratcher to me. 

 
FOX's Jay Glazer reports there could be a resolution to the Deshaun Watson trade saga by Wednesday afternoon. 

Watson's situation is to the point where it seems to be holding up certain areas of the market. It is unclear which team has the edge between the Panthers, Saints, Falcons and Browns. NFL Network ever so slightly hinted on Tuesday that it was New Orleans. We will know soon enough. 

RELATED: 

Atlanta Falcons

, Cleveland Browns

, New Orleans Saints

, Carolina Panthers

SOURCE: Jay Glazer on Twitter 

Mar 16, 2022, 3:59 PM ET

 
Guys on Saintsreport talking like today is some sort of deadline for Watson -- and not an internal Saints deadline, but something with the league. Is that not the case?
Definitely not.

Everyone wants it done, because FA is going on, but Watson can make 4 teams wait a day or two. 
I got the skinny -- in Saintsland, it was felt that LT Terron Armstead wouldn't re-sign with the Saints if they didn't have Watson in the fold. Armstead became a free agent 22 minutes ago ... so it was an internal deadline after all. And probably a fan-driven one at that.

 
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If Watson allows a bidding war to happen, he might be the dumbest player in the league.

Why on Earth would he say something like "any one of these three teams"???

There will absolutely not be a bidding war.

 
I got the skinny -- in Saintsland, it was felt that LT Terron


Armstead


wouldn't re-sign with the Saints if they didn't have


Watson


in the fold.


Armstead


became a free agent 22 minutes ago ... so it was an internal deadline after all. And probably a fan-driven one at that.
Think of how unusual it is to have the top WR and LT not signed yet. This is all because of Watson. 
Super interesting.

 
If Watson allows a bidding war to happen, he might be the dumbest player in the league.

Why on Earth would he say something like "any one of these three teams"???

There will absolutely not be a bidding war.
Maybe part of the trade and destination involves him getting an extension, more bonus money, and a reworked deal with hardly any salary for this year. He would only lose salary money from a suspension, not bonus money.

 

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