The Carolina Panthers are extremely interested in Deshaun Watson. For the past 14 months since Watson originally requested a trade from the Houston Texans, Panthers’ owner David Tepper has been less than shy in his craze to acquire the 26-year-old quarterback.
For Carolina, Watson represents the best young quarterback in the NFC, a decade worth of playoff contention, and the potential to dominate an NFC South conference that is in shambles following the departure of Tom Brady from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In short, everything Houston once felt they had upon extending their franchise signal caller in the summer of 2020 is now available for a new franchise. Last year, North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance went for three first round selections. A young quarterback that is guaranteed to hit, with a bevy of NFL success already under his belt, promises to gather much more.
The market expectation league wide is that Texans general manager Nick Caserio wants three first-round selections in addition to two upper-level starters, preferably on rookie contracts.
1) I was told last week HOU wants multiple starters, not just one, preference: guys on rookie deals. HOU sees a ton of young value on CAR’s roster.
2) Carolina offers a valuable trio of 1st’s.
3) Once again, not sure anyone is untouchable.
4) This isn’t inconceivable 👇 https://t.co/URZf5c7zkF
— John Ellis (@1PantherPlace) March 13, 2022
For Houston, no team is better suited to meet these demands this week than the Carolina Panthers.
To begin, the Panthers’ pick in the 2022 draft is at No. 6 overall. Almost immediately that makes their package more valuable than the likes of Tampa Bay, New Orleans, or even Seattle at No. 9. Picks in the top-10 are extremely high to come by and the Carolina package offers an immediate blue-chip prospect before Watson is able to elevate their team.
The Detroit Lions learned the hard way that taking picks a year out can be risky, as spurning the Panthers’ offer of the No. 8 overall selection for Matthew Stafford ultimately led to receiving the 32nd pick in the 2022 draft instead from the Los Angeles Rams. Elite quarterbacks lead to wins, and wins equate to worse picks. Securing an elite selection is imperative and a huge advantage for Carolina.
Unlike Seattle, all other suitors including Carolina will have to spread out the remaining first-round pick allocations over the next two drafts. Firsts in 2023 and 2024 would likely fall somewhere between 16-32 with Watson on any team, making this part of the trade a relative wash.
Caserio also publicly wants high-end players to accelerate his rebuild. This is where Carolina truly begins to run away with the competition.
Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn, Jaycee Horn and Derrick Brown all represent high end defensive starters that would make an immediate impact on Lovie Smiths’ defense. Burns would compliment Jonathan Greenard well on the opposite end as an edge rusher, Chinn would be a true chess piece and the team’s best safety, Horn the team’s immediate best corner, and Brown would likely start over Roy Lopez at nose tackle.
The addition of two or even just one of those young defensive players would go a long way towards alleviating Houston’s talent deficit that was highlighted in their dreadful 2021 campaign. Specifically, Chinn and Burns represent transformative defensive talents. Premier edge rushers like Burns are difficult to acquire and few players have had the level of impact as Chinn the last two years. The Texans’ should be willing to absorb a moderately negative asset, such as the one year contract of quarterback Sam Darnold, to ensure acquiring at least one of the two.
Unpopular opinion time:
Taking on Sam Darnold's heinous contract is worth it to ensure at least one of Jeremy Chinn or Brian Burns with the rest of the package as speculated from Carolina
Darnold: 1 year contract that's ideal prop-up competition for Davis Mills too #WeAreTexans
— John Crumpler (@TexansDoc) March 12, 2022
A top-10 pick with the ability to package the best combination of young players should make Carolina the number one destination for Houston to send Watson. There is, however, the matter of the pesky no trade clause.
That shouldn’t make a huge difference.
Carolina represents a homecoming of sorts for Watson. He’ll be less than 150 miles away from where his college legend grew, and he captured the 2016 national championship at Clemson. Charlotte represents a small, growing market to rehabilitate his national image from the nightmare that has been his last year and a half. The NFC South has never been more vulnerable with the departure of Sean Payton and Brady in the same year and the NFC represents a far easier path to the Super Bowl than the loaded AFC.
Oh, and the issues with ownership? Tepper feels far more likely to appease Watson in the ways he wants compared to his stand-off relationship with CEO Cal McNair. Watson would likely gather the type of control he’s previously stated he expects to have in an organization.
There couldn’t be a happier marriage than this potential trade.
