Texans general manager reveals backstory on Deshaun Watson trade to Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio provided his take on moving Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns in what could be the biggest trade of the 2022 offseason. Caserio said that the Texans are excited about moving forward and to think about what’s ahead. There’s a lot of work to get done and noted that Houston is a long way from their end goal of getting back to the playoffs.

“The biggest thing yesterday provides everybody is clarity in terms of direction,” Caserio said. “I think Deshaun has clarity on his end relative to what his future holds from a football standpoint. I think there’s some things still on a legal front, I don’t really want to get into that, but that will have to take place. Just clarity for him individually, clarity for our organization in terms of what the expectation is moving forward and what we have in place. Really what we’re trying to do is put together a consistent winner, put together a foundation and put together a team that a lot of people can be proud of.”

The Texans are set to receive three first-round picks in addition to a 2023 third-rounder and a 2024 fourth-rounder. Cleveland also received a 2024 fifth-round pick as part of the trade package.

The news of Watson to the Browns came just as quickly for those inside the Texans’ front office. With teams like the Saints and Panthers owning the bulk of reports to acquire the star quarterback’s services, the Browns seemingly swooped in at the last minute to secure its franchise player for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t think there was any particular point in time,” Caserio said. “Like I’ve said from the beginning, kind of one day at a time. What the future holds, to a certain extent, out of my control, out of anybody’s control. Control the things that we can control. I don’t want to speak for him about what his intentions were or whether or not those were going to change.”

Caserio is referring to the fact Watson sat out the entire 2021 season while under investigation after 22 women filed complaints against him for sexual assault and harassment. However, a grand jury recently decided that he will not face criminal charges in any of the cases against him.

Although that investigation is over with, Watson is still awaiting word from the NFL on whether it will dole out any suspension for the incident. Under the terms of his new contract, he would lose $55,555 per game he is suspended. Watson led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards in 2020, while also recording 444 yards on the ground and scoring 36 total touchdowns.