There's no telling whether Deshaun Watson, who's facing 22 lawsuits alleging acts of sexual assault and misconduct and 10 criminal complaints, will ever play another snap for the Houston Texans. He's embroiled in controversy.
And while a trade isn't imminent, as recent reports suggest, SportsRadio 610 Houston host Sean Pendergast believes that the Texans are more willing to move on from Watson, rather than keep him for the long haul.
"Some of the stuff he's been accused of, he hasn't admitted to illegal activity. But he's admitted to some things that are pretty lewd," Pendergast told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Tuesday. "The Texans tend to have a higher threshold for what constitutes good player conduct than most teams do. I'm always curious about, has Deshaun admitted to enough to where the Texans might say, 'You know what, I don't know if we want this guy as the face of our franchise,' combined with the fact that the roster's kind of a mess right now...
"I think the favorite is still that they trade him, eventually. But there's a lot of people who're going to have say in whether or not -- or how soon -- he can be traded. [Houston police] is still investigation this. Roger Goodell hasn't said boo about it, other than, "We're still investigating.' And by the way, neither side on the civil lawsuits are budging right now about settlements. Right now, they're on track to go to trial. If they do that, Deshaun can't be deposed until, at the earliest, February 2022. So, it's a slog right now."
Watson, who reported to Texans training camp on time two weeks ago only to avoid daily holdout fines, missed a handful of practices last week due to apparent apparent calf and ankle tightness. The three-time Pro Bowler did return to the field in uniform on Monday, though his level of participation in team activities is somewhat unclear, based on various reports.
On July 27, the NFL released a statement regarding Watson's legal situation, saying that the league's investigation "remains ongoing and active," and that they're not restricting Watson's participation in team activities at this time. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could still place Watson on the exempt list, which would keep him from playing but allow him to get paid until his serious legal matters are resolved.
Watson is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and carries a $15 million cap hit. Last September, the 25-year-old agreed to a four-year, $156 million contract extension that could possibly keep him with the Texans until 2025.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio told SportsRadio 610 on Tuesday that he doesn't expect Watson to travel with the team to Green Bay this weekend for their first preseason game against the Packers.
The entire Watson conversation between Pendergast and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.