At the beginning of the week when the Deshaun Watson bidding really started ramping up, it seemed like a trade would happen in relatively short order.
But he remains torn as of Friday afternoon, and it’s possible that his decision stretches into the weekend.
So, what’s the holdup?
There’s a few factors at play. Obviously, it took time for him to meet with teams, and now his list is said to be down to the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. Add in the fact that now he’s reportedly looking to get a new contract during this entire process, and it becomes even clearer how convoluted a process this has been.
With all of that in mind, The MMQB’s Albert Breer shared Friday on the “Rich Eisen Show” why he thinks the process has been so drawn out.
“I think he’s intrigued by the idea of going home, and I think there’s a huge part of him that wants to go to Atlanta while realizing the best football situation in 2022, right now is New Orleans,” Breer told Eisen. “... I do think the contract is at least a piece of the puzzle, and if this thing is really close between Atlanta and New Orleans - and I think it is and that’s why it’s taken so long – then the contract could wind up being some sort of tiebreaker.”
The contract being a tiebreaker could end up creating an interesting dynamic in all of this. The Falcons and Saints obviously are all-in on the idea of pursuing Watson – they’ve taken a meeting, they’ve had the framework of a trade approved by the Texans.
However, teams could have been under the impression that they were taking on his current contract. Whether a new deal, potentially with even more money counting against the cap, gives either team pause isn’t clear – especially considering a suspension very much remains a possibility for the quarterback.
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