Betrayed: The Problem In Houston

Well, it happened. Deshaun Watson has requested a trade out of Houston. Are we surprised? I mean, David Culley?? The passing game coordinator for the Ravens, who had the #32 ranked passing attack in the NFL.. Yes, worse than the New York Jets.. The Houston Texans put the only guy who was WORSE than Adam Gase in scheming a passing game. The guy who was in charge of the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room the year that the Chiefs had 0 WR receiving TD’s under his leadership. Is there really any surprise that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back? 

Now, this article is not about bashing David Culley. This isn’t even about where Deshaun Watson will land. No, instead, we need to really take a hard look at how the Texans arrived at this point. You have a team owner in Janice McNair, CEO Cal McNair more directly, that reportedly offered Deshaun Watson a seat at the table for deciding the direction and the future of the franchise. And then, seemingly pulling that chair out from under him and essentially locking him out. You can think what you want about a player dictating who the coach or GM will be, I personally don’t like it. There is no reason a team should put a 25 year old player with no experience running a franchise in the position to tell them who his boss should be. But that isn’t the issue. The issue is, the Texans DID extend that offer to Watson and then they backed out on their word. That is concerning to me. 

First, this scenario sets a very bad precedent for the NFL moving forward. Who will the next player be that demands organizational control, at least in part? Tom Brady got that in Tampa Bay, but his time in the league, his GOAT status (debatable for me as a Jets fan) and his knowledge on how winning teams are run, warrants a little more consideration for it, but I still don’t like it. 

Watson wanted the Texans to at least interview Robert Saleh and Eric Bieniemy. They never even called Saleh and they only interviewed Bieniemy after this Watson situation blew up. That felt like a token interview in the respect that the Texans were trying to reduce media backlash rather than giving serious consideration to the candidates. And there is the real possibility that Bieniemy simply turned down the job. What elite coaching candidate would want it? You don’t have first or second round picks this year, you are losing your franchise QB with no real prospects to replace him, you are drastically negative in cap space meaning more top player cuts are on the horizon. What genuine candidate would want to essentially punt on their first year of their head coaching career? If you ask me, the Texans should have just stuck with interim coach Romeo Crennel through 2021. 2021 is going to have the Texans picking #1 most likely after the season so the job is far more attractive in 2022. But the Texans haven’t shown that they are really capable at making these types of decisions so with Watson being 25, I totally understand him wanting out. No sense in wasting the next 5 years of his career with the direction this team is heading. 

The fact of the matter is, the Houston Texans have betrayed Deshaun Watson. I would argue that they have betrayed the entire Houston Texans fanbase. This is looking like a 5 year rebuild in Houston and there is a long, dark road ahead. I feel for the players. I feel for the fans. As a fan of the Jets who have endured 50+ years of rebuilding, my heart breaks for the road the Texans must travel now. I genuinely hope the Texans work this out and return to smooth operations as soon as possible. The league benefits from having more teams at the top than more teams at the bottom. My advice to Houston fans, you are in for a hard road, but stay the course. My advice to the Texans organization, get your act together. Put football people in charge of making the football decisions. And NEVER take advantage of your fanbase or players like this again. 

-Jimmy

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