After Saturday night’s preseason game against the Buccaneers, Texans coach David Culley wasn’t asked about the latest news and reports and rumors regarding quarterback Deshaun Watson. On Monday, Culley was asked whether Watson will consume one of the spots on the team’s 53-man roster.
Said Culley, via Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chroncle, “We’re day to day with that.”
Indeed they are, and the days are running short. By tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. ET, the Texans have to trim the roster from 80. They can trade him by then, or they can put him on the final roster before (presumably) stashing him on the revocable version of injured reserve.
Even if they clear him off the 53-man roster via IR, they’ll be paying him $10.54 million to not play for the Texans in 2021. That continues to be the fundamental question to which we don’t know the answer. Will owner Cal McNair happily cut large checks on a weekly basis to a player who: (1) wants out; (2) doesn’t want to play; (2) can’t be traded for full value because of a slew of allegations of sexual misconduct are pending against him?
They fact that Culley called the situation as “day to day” confirms in a roundabout way that anything is possible, including a trade. And tomorrow is one of the key days on the path toward a final resolution. While tomorrow isn’t the deadline for a trade, it’s the deadline for getting the roster to 53. And if the Texans don’t trade him, they’ll basically be moving forward with one fewer player on the team than every other franchise, because they’ll be holding a spot for a guy who will never play for them again.