Miami Dolphins make final decision on Deshaun Watson trade

The Miami Dolphins have reportedly made a decision on whether or not to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Per Adam Schefter, the Dolphins will not be trading for Watson ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET NFL trade deadline.

The Dolphins will be sticking with Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback, at least for the rest of the season.

“Although the Dolphins did due diligence on Deshaun Watson and had conversations with Houston, Miami will not make a trade for the QB, per source,” Schefter tweeted. “Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who had contingencies that needed to be met for any deal, made the final decision to not move forward.

“While Miami considered bringing in Deshaun Watson, no deal ever was in place. And the Dolphins will stick with Tua Tagovailoa, a young QB who has shown improvement this year.”

Schefter went on to say that the Dolphins aren’t the only team not trading for Watson. He is unlikely to be leaving the Texans at all ahead of the trade deadline. If a deal will happen involving Watson, it won’t come until the offseason.

“And with the Dolphins declining to make a QB trade before today’s deadline, Deshaun Watson now is expected to remain on the Texans’ roster until after this season, when the team can explore a trade for him again at that time,” Schefter said.

Watson’s ongoing legal situation was a big hurdle in a potential trade

Despite not being active for any games, Watson has remained on the Texans’ roster throughout the season. If Watson is dealt, he is likely to be eligible to play despite his ongoing legal situation. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell explained last week why Watson hasn’t been put on the Commissioner’s Exempt list.

“There obviously are other, I’ll call it legal approaches that are being made either through civil cases, obviously the police have been investigating also,” Goodell said. “We don’t have all the access to that information at this point in time. And we pride ourselves on not interfering in that, being cooperative as we can to make sure we get all the facts. But I think that process is still ongoing. And until that process is ongoing and we have enough data and enough information to be able to make a determination of whether he should go on Commissioner Exempt, we don’t feel that we have that necessary information at this point.”

In addition to the Dolphins, the Panthers emerged as a potential landing spot for Watson in recent weeks. Watson has not been formally charged with a crime. But he is facing ten criminal complaints and 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault.