Deshaun Watson has made it clear he wants out of Houston, but the Texans appear to have no interest in granting the quarterback's trade request, as they have reportedly continued to not engage with trade offers for Watson.
"Houston continues to avoid conversations with teams in regards to trading Deshaun Watson per sources," tweeted ESPN's Dianna Russini. "They are refusing to trade their franchise QB."
From the Texans' perspective, this strategy makes sense. While Watson is unhappy with the team and is hoping to head elsewhere to get a fresh start, Houston is going to hold onto Watson for as long as it can with the hope that he can be convinced to stick around. After all, historically, teams simply do not trade 25-year-old franchise quarterbacks.
For Watson, this could put him in a position of having to decide if he is actually willing to hold out until he is dealt by the Texans, which he has reportedly threatened to do. But even if he does refuse to show up, that may not dissuade Houston from keeping Watson for as long as possible. After all, it's unlikely that Watson's trade value would drop due to a holdout, so the Texans would likely still be receiving massive offers from teams if they didn't make him available for trade until next season actually started or even after the season ends.
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