The Deshaun Watson feud with the Houston Texans is the biggest NFL story of the offseason. Watson, who was drafted by the Texans in 2017, has requested a trade from the team due to his frustrations with the front office. The Texans have made it clear they have no interest in trading Watson, but that doesn’t mean teams won’t continue to call about the 25-year-old quarterback. Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, who has his own show on the CBS Sports Radio (Tiki and Tierney), talked with PopCulture.com about Watson’s future and said the Texans should consider trading Watson to two teams from the NFC.
“If I’m the Texans and I have to move him, I’m sending him to the NFC,” Barber said in our PopCulture @Home series. “I don’t want him to come back at any point and haunt me at any point in the AFC.” Barber then suggested the Atlanta Falcons should trade for him because the team has a new head coach in Arthur Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan is “getting up there in age.” Additionally, the Falcons have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, meaning they have the firepower to make a trade.
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Barber then said the Texans should look at the Washington Football team as it “makes the most sense.” Barber went on to say: “They have a fantastic head coach in Ron Rivera. They have $35 million in cap space. They don’t have a super-high first-round pick, but you can supplement that with the other assets on the team. …I feel like Washington is coming. It’s only a matter of time they are playoff and maybe championship viable. And if they get a quarterback, which they are desperately in need of, Deshaun Watson can be a difference-maker.”
The Falcons likely won’t make the trade for Watson despite being from Georgia. It’s been reported that Ryan is staying with the Falcons in 2021, and the team will likely use the No. 4 pick to select a quarterback. Washington could make the move, despite the team signing quarterback Taylor Heinicke to a two-year contract extension. It’s not clear if Alex Smith will be back in 2021 after winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2020.
When it comes down to it, the Texans want to keep Watson in Houston as he’s the face of the franchise. And Barber reveals what they need to do in order to make that happen. “Just have a conversation with him,” Barber said. “They haven’t had a conversation with him since the season ended.”
