According to NFL Insider Jason La Conforta, sources have said not to disregard the Eagles from the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes.
The driving source behind this interest seems to be none other than Jeffrey Lurie (shocker!), as La Conforta mentioned in his article:
“I hear that it is very much at the ownership level,” as one league source put it.
Almost every report this offseason regarding the Eagles’ QB position has included Lurie in it. A few weeks ago, it was Lurie who wanted the team to build around Jalen Hurts. His meddling is becoming more and more concerning by the day.
Deshaun Watson had another great season for the Texans, throwing for 33 touchdowns (a career-high) against seven interceptions (a career-low). He had 4832 passing yards, which led the league, and a 112.4 QBR. Watson’s performance earned him a third-straight Pro-Bowl berth.
However, despite Watson’s efforts, the Texans went 4-12. Houston’s questionable moves (trading DeAndre Hopkins, not interviewing Eric Bieniemy for their HC opening) has led to Watson wanting out.
Even if the Eagles have the amount of interest that is being reported, a trade might be difficult to make. Plus, in the event that a trade was somehow made, it might not end in the amazing team turnaround the Eagles expect.
A Watson Trade Could Lead To Disaster
Now, this is nothing against Deshaun Watson. He’s an amazing young talent who, with the right team, can go on deep playoff runs every year and become an MVP contender.
The problem with this is that the Eagles are not that right team, for a number of reasons.
Acquiring Watson would take an unbelievable treasure trove return. We’re talking at least three first-round picks and more. Much more. 2nd/3rd round picks, starters, etc. You name it, the Texans probably want it.
The Eagles have a lot of positions they need to address, and they only have so many assets. Adding Watson would take away any chance of adding a top receiver. You’d be banking on Jalen Reagor, Travis Fulgham, and some cheap veteran to become a formidable offense.
Secondly, the Eagles organization is incredibly inconsistent. One season they can appear as some of the smartest people in the league, and the next they’ll look like a disorganized dumpster fire. The latter is this year.
Why would Watson want to go from one (currently) inept team to another? He’s a very vocal player. There’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t run into the same issues that Wentz had with the Eagles.
So in order to keep Watson happy, the Eagles need to devote resources to areas of weaknesses so he’ll succeed. Resources they wouldn’t have because they would be giving them up for Watson.
We haven’t even mentioned Hurts in all of this yet. Yes, he’s obviously not as good as Watson and there’s a good chance he never will be. But to simply give up on him so quickly would be a mistake.
To be clear, a Watson trade wouldn’t be an the worst thing ever. The opposite, in fact. As mentioned, he has legit talent, and he’s only 25, which means there’s still untapped potential. He’s the kind of building block any team would want.
But the Eagles should want to avoid another Wentz situation, where the lack of role players ended up hurting him. While rolling with an unknown talent in Hurts will take more time to pay off, it could eventually be the much smarter move in the long-run.
