To say the Houston Texans are in bad shape this season is an understatement. Deshaun Watson has asked for a trade, and the organization continues to play the firm hand with his request and try to keep him.
On Friday, the team and defenseman J.J. Watt agreed to part ways and the talented Texan became a free agent for life. After just one year out of the playoffs, they plan to start next season without Watt and Watson.
David Calley has been hired as head coach in a rather dubious fashion, especially with a man like Eric Bieniemy available until now. The circus around Watson may not be over yet, and they are inclined to keep him at all costs, despite his insistence that he look for a job next season and play elsewhere.
The Texans are probably the worst football franchise in the world right now and will likely go through some tough years of rebuilding, whether Watson is around or not. Nonetheless, the Texans may make a few changes to their roster, including a new head coach and a new general manager.
They have a lot of problems in Texas, and the new regime will be very busy this season trying to right the ship that Bill O’Brien left them. A little over a year ago, this team had a big lead in a playoff game against the Chiefs, until Patrick Mahomes came back on offense and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
Yet they are falling fast and hard, and the Texas franchise has many problems to solve if it wants to have any relevance in 2021, with Watson’s situation at the forefront.
The Texas team could go down many paths this year, but cutting some players to create extra room in the budget could be one of them, especially considering that they seem to be throwing in the towel with the future in mind.
RB David Johnson
Wait a minute, the Texans just traded star receiver Deandre Hopkins for Johnson last season, so why rule him out?
This deal was never very popular with Texas fans, even though Johnson had a good season in 2020. He was the team leader with 691 yards in just 12 games and added 314 yards on 33 strikes.
He can still play good football, but with an $8.8 million cap and the Texans rebuilding, it seems time to cut the line and part ways.
David Johnson (+1300) scored his first TD of the NFL season to give the Texans (+9.5) a 7-0 lead over Arrowhead @betthepigskinpic
.twitter.com/bDXOQNwpKG
– Barstool Sportsbook (@BSSportsbook) September 11, 2020
If Watson is traded, they will likely have a young quarterback or a veteran, and losing Watt will not make that defense any better.
The new front office has to make some tough decisions about the future of this team, and they could start recruiting or possibly acquire a younger back like Marlon Mack.
This off-season has been disastrous for the Houston organization, and it’s only a matter of time before Watson will go out and pick up some picks or a few players, digging the hole for this new direction the franchise is going.
Johnson has been great with the Arizona Cardinals, but any time you get a chance to sign a player of Hopkins’ caliber, you do it without thinking twice, and maybe a meeting in Arizona makes sense for Johnson.
He should have a lot of fans, especially for a returning veteran, but the fact that he’s leaning the wrong way at 30 makes it even more obvious to the Texans.
The swap of Hopkins for Johnson was never good and will be considered one of the worst deals in all of sports, as Hopkins is still one of the top receivers in the league who just had a monster year with the Arizona Cardinals.
Johnson should have no problem finding work elsewhere if he is fired or traded for work. There are a lot of names available in the backcourt in free agency, and once the offseason begins, the Texans could have a lot of new faces in the locker room next season.
One thing is for sure, Texas fans have a few more years of agony ahead of them as they try to rebuild the team and regain their relevance after last year’s great tragedy.
