New England Patriots Rumors: 3 unhappy superstars Pats could trade for

New England Patriots Trade Target No. 1: Deshaun Watson

There may not be a more controversial name in all of the NFL right now than Deshaun Watson. Coming off a career year, Watson requested a trade after the season’s end due to the Houston Texans somehow blowing up a yearly playoff contender in only two seasons. Houston refused, but Watson was shortly hit with a bevy of sexual assault charges that threw everything into chaos.

The situation took a backseat during the last few weeks, but has heated up again recently. After initially facing 20 plus accusations of sexual assault, Watson’s lawyer said that number was “only” at 10 right now. And after refusing to trade Watson all offseason, Houston has only decided now to reverse course, and is suddenly open to trading Watson now.

There are so many different ways to look at a potential Watson trade. From a pure football perspective, the Patriots would be foolish to not be interested in Watson. He kept an awful Houston team in pretty much every game they played, and is just 25 years old.

But there is so much risk involved with a deal for Watson that no one is really sure what is going to happen. For starters, he’s facing tons of sexual assault charges, which could not only damage his football career, but his life outside the game as well. Those charges are a very large looming issue that is most likely going to cause teams to be wary of trading for Watson.

Then there are secondary issues, such as whether or not Watson will even be eligible to play this season, as he could be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list regardless of where the legal proceedings are at. Even if he plays this season, what happens next season? Could he face jail time that interrupts his career?

There are so many unknowns with this situation that it makes a trade quite unappealing. But the issue is, Houston has almost no leverage in the situation. Watson has requested a trade, and Houston has now decided to let the entire world know that they are looking to move Watson as well.

Making a move for Watson is a huge, huge risk. But if he ends up getting traded and can actually play, chances are the team that traded for him is getting a steal. The problem is there is currently a lot working against that statement being true.

Yes, the New England Patriots did just draft Mac Jones in the first round to be their presumed quarterback of the future. But anytime you can take established talent over potential talent, you move closer to a championship. There’s a lot of risk involved with a potential trade for Watson, but if the Patriots make a trade for him and he ends up playing the season, there’s a very good chance this team is competing for a Super Bowl.