(SportsRadio 610) - After more than a year with Deshaun Watson wanting to be traded by the Texans, he was finally dealt Friday to the Cleveland Browns for three first-round picks, a third and a fifth.
One key mitigating factor in getting a deal done was having Watson waive his no-trade clause, which was negotiated into the contract extension the Texans gave him prior to the 2020 season.
This was before Caserio took over as general manager. Bill O'Brien was in that role, with executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby his partner in negotiating contracts.
Watson, and his agent David Mulugheta, were able to use the clause to effectively allow the quarterback to pick his destination. This inherently narrowed the Texans' options for potential trade partners, and may have ultimately impacted what they could yield in a deal, especially considering it was understood Watson would never play again for Houston.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio was asked Saturday morning how much the no-trade clause factored into what deal he could make.
Caserio acknowledged there were certain parameters in place, so he worked with Watson and Mulugheta on what those parameters would, and the threshold for negotiating a trade.
Beyond the three first-round picks, Caserio said the market for Watson in terms of getting back proven players or additional second-round picks was mostly speculation.
"Our job, whether it’s a coach or player, is to ID, fix, assess and then find solutions to whatever the impediments or perceived impediments may be," Caserio said. "Certainly that was a part of the equation that we had to factor in. I think the impetus for getting teams to the table when you have a situation like that was there’s X number of teams that there would have been interest in potentially waiving that clause for, so in order to get those teams to the table we had a certain threshold of what it would take to get to that point for those initial discussions to take place. From there, you have to work through the trade compensation and whatever the compensation is that you feel makes the most sense. I think you have to be thoughtful and you have to take the information, process it and try to make the best decision at that time so that’s why we went ahead and did what we did."
What about Caserio's perspective on no-trade clauses in player contracts, and the notion of a player weaponizing it to force a trade rather than to simply block one? In some ways, this is unprecedented and could start a trend of high-profile players using leverage against their teams.
"I would say whatever took place prior to my arrival, I certainly can’t control," Caserio said. "What I’m going to try to do is do what I feel is best for our organization, and whatever that entails, whether that’s contract from a contract structure. A lot of that too comes down to negotiation with the other side. There’s always going to be, even during free agency if you want to look at it in real time, there’s going to be a little bit of a give and take. The player thinks he’s worth X, we think he’s worth Y. What are the things that are most relevant and what are the things that are most pressing, what are the things that are really most important to you, said player, in order to consummate an agreement. That’s part of my responsibility, part of my dialogue with whoever that may party is on the other side.
"My responsibility is to try and do the best thing by the organization and do what I think is right, and then provide that information to the ownership. Ultimately from a football operations standpoint as it pertains to adding players to the team, that’s going to something were I continue to make sure I make the decisions."
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Brandon Scott is the senior digital content coordinator for SportsRadio610.com. Follow him on Twitter @brandonkscott .