This is a column I hoped to never write, but the writing is on the wall. There’s only so many “rumors” being reported by all different insiders that can be ignored. After a wile, you have to believe there is something to these stories. Brian Flores doesn’t deny the rumors. Chris Grier doesn’t deny the rumors. It’s frightening.
I HOPE TO BE WRONG. I HOPE I AM VERY VERY INCORRECT.
It seems like DeShaun Watson might be a Dolphin very soon, and that is terrible.
I’ll mention his legal issues here, briefly, and move on. The focus of my Watson-negativity is not because of the legal allegations, although those come into play.
First, consider the price we’d have to give up. Apparently Houston wants THREE first rounders and 2 second rounders. No one is worth that much. The price is too high, and giving up all those picks would handicap the Dolphins for the next 3-5 years. It would wipe out all the good work that Chris Grier has done recently to acquire those picks. Our extra picks would be gone, plus our own picks would be gone. All to acquire Watson. I say no way to that.
Misguided Dolphin fans who want Watson (yes, some idiot fans really want to make this deal) point to his 3 Pro Bowls. I cannot deny that. However, his record as a starter is 28-25. He’s barely a .500 QB. He’s no leader. Remember, the Texans had a stout defense for years, and made the playoffs with and without Watson. In his last playoff game, he helped the Chiefs come back and overcome Houston’s 24-0 lead. His team was up 24 points and blew it. The year before, they scored only 7 points in a playoff loss to the Colts…hardly a defensive juggernaut. No, DeShaun is no gritty playoff leader.
Plus, regarding his 3 Pro Bowls, I point to the fact that he was an alternate/reserve Pro Bowler, replacing other QBs who were picked ahead of him but chose not to play or were injured. Watson was never voted as a starting Pro Bowler.
His passing yards last year were impressive, but remember he was on a 4-12 team that was behind every single week. They passed like crazy every single game. I don’t begrudge him the yards he gained, but you have to wonder how many of those yards came in garbage time, with the opponent already winning by a lot.
And now we get to my favorite reason to keep Watson away from the Dolphins: his attitude.
It seems we spent most of August dealing with a greedy, ungrateful player in Xavien Howard. Management finally caved in; for the most part, it’s a dead issue now, and we’re all happy to have Howard on the team. So now Watson wants to come to town, and we must look at his current situation.
Here’s a guy earning millions and millions of dollars–far more than Xavien Howard. And he’s not happy about that. He’s not necessarily whining about demands for more money, but he’s whining about the men who pay him that money. Watson does not like the moves the front office makes, and he is quite vocal about it. He demands to be traded. Although he’s made his token appearances at Texans’ practices, he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to play for them. And he’s made it clear publicly.
He’s also been very very vocal about wanting to play for the Dolphins. Speaking objectively here for a moment, the Dolphins are not currently a playoff team, and it’s been several years since we were. So Watson’s desire to play here cannot be because of the winning culture nor our recent playoff success.
If winning titles were important to him, he’d demand a trade to be Brady’s or Mahomes’ backup. Or he’d demand a trade to teams that are really close or in need of a starting QB, maybe like New Orleans or Pittsburgh. No, he doesn’t want to come here to win. He wants to come here for the weather. For South Beach. For the life. It can’t be about football. It can’t be about championships.
Say the rumors are true, and we get stuck with Watson. How long until he starts to mouth off again? How long before he demands a trade? How long before he wants to dictate who we draft and who our coordinators are? We can’t fool ourselves. When this kid gets disgruntled, he will make a scene. He is doing it right now in Houston, and it’s stupid to believe he wouldn’t do it to the Dolphins as well.
Imagine him on the Dolphins and then he starts making trade demands again. We’ll get no refund from Houston. We’ll get no takers on a trade either…at least not a valuable trade. We’d get laughed at.
I say his attitude makes him damaged goods. And on a team like the Dolphins–a team that took so long to get rid of the other damaged goods and be seemingly close to turning it all around–we don’t need a guy like that.
Why doesn’t Stephen Ross step in and stop the madness!?
Texans are stuck with him, so I am hoping that the rumors are just all disinformation. I agree 100% with your reasons why he should not become a Dolphin.
If he truly wanted out, he’d accept a trade anywhere. The fact that he demands a trade…PLUS he demands his destination…it’s way too cocky for a 25-year old.
I’m not sure where you are getting your false information from but hasn’t demanded Miami, Miami is a natural choice because of the accumulated picks they have.
By all accounts, he will only accept a trade to Miami, Denver, and Carolina. Apparently he already rejected Philadelphia. He didn’t specifically demand Miami, but he did veto trades to 29 teams.
I give him credit for getting a trade-approval clause in his original deal. Brilliant move.
I personally don’t see it happening, I think the Dolphins front office had to at least explore the possibility but with the asking price and how hard it would be to fit that contract into the current cap…. I just don’t see it happening. I don’t always agree with Grier’s moves but one thing is clear is that he values draft capital and that’s giving way too much up.
You guys remember the Vikings giving up the farm for Herschel Walker? Cowboys went on to several championships while the Vikes are still suffering to this day.
That’s false, the Vikings had a chance to go to the SB and had built a juggernaut of a team in route to Gary Anderson blowing a chip-shot fg and eventually losing to Atlanta in the NFCCG. And they were a perennial playoff team after that and if not for a bonehead errant pass from Favre, they would have best the Saints in the NFCCG and most likely have gone on to beat a battered Colts team in the SB.
I agree I don’t want this for all of the reasons above as well as hurting the cap space that Tua affords them. I understand that right now Tua isn’t as good and maybe never will be but could he be close? I believe so once that oline is fixed but how the hell are they going to do it with no draft capital???
I’m hoping that the Fins are simply helping Houston get a haul by playing the game with them. After all they took them to the cleaners so maybe this is the Fins giving something back. Pretend they are interested to help milk another team. After all they know Cesario so why not….let’s hope that’s what’s happening.
Another thing too….let’s assume the kid is innocent and 22 separate women made the whole thing up. Signing him sends a bad signal that the Dolphins accept/tolerate men who try to seduce /coerce vulnerable young physical therapists. There will be an outcry. And in the MeToo era, these outcries don’t go away. Some people simply will not accept that Watson is innocent, and they will protest Ross. Ross will have to stumble his way through interviews and protestors to defend why the Dolphins signed a player with such allegations. Signing Watson may not hurt the finances or tickets sales, but we will certainly lose in the court of public opinion. Again.
We’re barely over the bullying scandal, and Ross wants to potentially take this on?
The whole thing smells Admin. If they were to receive a deal one can argue that they couldn’t refuse it but this is no deal. I wouldn’t touch it either way.
Let’s not forget the scandals that Howard has been in if we are going to be address character issues and management tolerating it – Howard has continually been a problem child who is often injured and spat in the face of management after they have been generous with him.
No way are the Texans getting what they are asking for, they have two and only two choices, accept a much lower offer (yes, their asking price is ridiculous) and get what they can or Watson sits the entire season and they have to eat 10 million.
There is a 3rd option but that is even more unlikely, they cut Watson and have to pay him a truckload of money for nothing and end up getting nothing – Houston has no leverage here.
As for his numbers last year, I watched him play and he was putting up big numbers with no help whatsoever. He didn’t have 1k yard back (not even a 700 yard back) and barely had a 1k yard WR – keep in mind he passed for nearly 5k yards and ran for nearly 500 yards with 3 rushing TDs.
As far as the stats being a product of garbage time, nope, not even close, Houston was in a lot of games, it was actually the defense that blew most of games and NO ONE passes for over 30 TDs vs 7 INTs off garbage time – even J.J. Watt himself said that the Texan defense owes Watson an apology because they threw away what was an amazing season by Watson. Most people who don’t know any better assume that Watson’s play was responsible for the team’s record, but it was actually the defense. And use common sense for a moment, if the defense knows you are going to pass pass pass pass, don’t you think they will defend it properly and also tee-off on the QB? Remember Tennessee and Kansas City 2 years ago how the defense teed-off on Tannehill because they had to pass their way out of the hole they had fallen into? Or anytime Marino played against the Bills, Buffalo knew Miami couldn’t run so they teed-off on him and beat him a lot.
Only an idiot or someone who doesn’t know what REALLY happened in Houston last season would think that Watson’s stats were garbage time stats or the result of constantly playing catch-up. Here is your evidence of Watt apologizing for the defense’s pathetic performance last season and Watson carrying the team with virtually no supporting cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9QQy1MW9w8
Not a leader, that is another thoughtless comment. Keep in mind that teams vote for their team captains, they are not just handed out freely like candy, Watson is not only the face of the franchise but also the team captain … VOTED so by his teammates, including Watt – that speaks VOLUMES about his leadership and the respect he has from his teammates.
And let’s be smart about who we put blame on for bringing in players or having dealings with players – Ross is not the guy, Chris Grier and Tom Garfinkle are making the decisions as Ross has taken a hands off approach and entrusted the team to Grier and company the last few seasons after so much backlash since he purchased the team. So people need to stop blaming Ross like he is making these decisions – he is not, he is being smart and letting football people handle the football decisions.
As far for being barely over the bullying scandal, that is at best laughable, that was a different front office, different coaching staff, and there are NO PLAYERS left on the team from 2013-2014. The notion that the bullying scandal from over 5 years ago still looms over the team is just flat out ridiculous and an extreme reach – that is the equivalent of saying that Antonio Brown is still a cancer in the Steelers locker room or that Buddy Ryan is still creating a rift in the Oilers locker room, just flat-out silly.
Now, let’s discuss Watson’s “whining” about the men who pay him. Not only was Watson stripped of any help (including DeAndre Hopkins who some experts have said is the most dangerous WR in the NFL) with no viable replacement by foolish decisions from his former coach/GM, but imagine you are your company’s most important worker and team lead and not only do they foolishly get rid of your best assistants, but then you have no input on who the company hires in your department to help you do your job – are you seriously going to just be a yes man and not speak up about the lack of leadership, accountability, communication, and a transparent working relationship? I highly doubt that. Watson had the balls to call out poor business practices by management – THAT is what a leader would do – only spineless drones with no self-worth would be content working for a company that has routinely made poor decisions regarding personnel and company direction would settle and stay quiet in that situation. Rodgers and Brady have both done it, are you questioning their leadership or character as well?
Personally I wouldn’t meet Houston on their demands knowing they have no leverage, but to be stupid enough to think that Watson isn’t an instant upgrade over Tua is just flat-out ignorant. With the talent Miami has acquired, especially this past draft, Miami would be at the very least an instant perennial playoff contender, and at most a division winner and Super Bowl competitor with Watson (assuming the defense plays as well as it did last year) – they are still lacking a serious edge rusher that can make impact plays and or force turnovers to be a serious contender. Personally I’d offer a 1 and 2 and Tua – if not just wait or walk away and if Houston cuts Watson, swoop in and get him and lose no draft ammunition. As far as cap space, Miami has ALWAYS been great and managing the cap in the last decade – they’ve made poor decisions regarding free agents, but they have never had a cap nightmare in the last 5 to 7 years as they’ve had team guys like Tannehill and Jones restructure their contracts to free up money to bring in talent. I’m sure they can find a way around that.
Oh, and as far as not being a “gritty playoff leader” speaking of Marino, there were MANY times he put up embarrassing numbers in big games and even in playoff games, yet you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say he wasn’t a leader – careers aren’t built and made on 1 or 2 games.
Thanks for your perspective Rod you seem to be in the know with Watson but the fact remains that he could end up in jail at some point. How do you risk those assets and potential smear across this franchise if it backfires especially with your coach preaching good character only?? ?
Well, one thing that came up today was a washer scale of games played vs compensation. For example, if he plays in all games the compensation is a 1, if he plays in 2 to 4 games then the compensation is 3. But that’s between the teams to figure out.
High character but yet Howard is still on the team … interesting isn’t it. And that doesn’t apply to Watson right now because until proven they are just allegations. Keep that in mind
Something like that would have to be in the deal but it’s sounding like nothing is going to happen today. Perhaps the Fins wanted to hear some feedback and it was mainly negative. Sure Howard has had his issues but nothing like this Watson was national news. He could end up in jail as well so even with a sliding compensation scale it’s still a huge risk. The Fins could do nothing and still end up being a top team in my opinion the skies the limit especially with Tua’s low cap hit.
Today? no. But apparently a deal is imminent within the next 2 weeks, which lines up with the start of the season … at least that’s what agents with inside information keep saying and they know better than we do. It seems plausible as it keeps popping up and even mega douche agent Drew Rosenhaus said they are in talks and a deal is likely to happen.
I dunno, I don’t share your optimism regarding Tua, yes, he has looked far better than last season but that isn’t saying much. At best I see him as just a game manager, not someone who can make plays or carry the offense if needed.
I don’t know man the guys won everywhere he’s been and that intangible is the main one needed. I look at last season as a total mess and he still won more than he lost. In the Zona game he beat Murray. Sure its a team game but he out big played him and managed a win or not it’s a win. Who gives a shit if some guy gets 400 yards and loses. Let’s see what happens when some of his WR’s actually play and the oline improves. I bet we see great results and I was on the fence between him and Herbert mainly due to health .
Rod, thank you for the insightful comments, It’s nice to see intelligent debate instead of insults, etc.
Your points are valid in most of these, but there are a few things that are intangibles. For example, I said Watson wasn’t a great leader, and you correctly pointed out that his teammates said he was a good leader. Touche’.
I value what his peers say. However, I also know that he had some monster regular seasons, and then became a different QB in the playoffs. When they played the Colts, they lost 21-7. Watson had mediocre stats. (You brought up Marino in this context, and believe me, I am not one to defend Marino’s playoff mediocrity). Sometimes–no matter what the defense does and no matter what the running game does–sometimes the QB has to put the team on his shoulders and get that victory. I didn’t see that from Watson in the important games. But I understand that what I see and what his teammates see is different.
I won’t back down from my opinions about his whining. Teams rebuild all the time, and that doesn’t give other players the right to quit. I detest holdouts of any kind, including Xavien Howard. I simply cannot fathom the ingratitude it takes to bite the hand of a man handing you $25 million.
Also, I don’t think personalities change overnight. When Watson was upset about Houston’s decision-making, he handled it by holding out, refusing to play, and publicly demanding a trade. What happens when he disagrees with Brian Flores in the future? Will he politely and quietly accept everything he disagrees with, or will he air his grievances publicly again and refuse to play again? History shows us that he is one to air his grievances publicly, which causes the distractions we are so desperate to be rid of.
Teams rebuild, but you have to understand that Houston had control of the division and mortgaged their future for 2 players and that trade was widely viewed as a steal for Miami. But O’Brien wasn’t done, getting rid of star players without replacing them properly, hence he was fired. So just to be clear, they were not rebuilding, O’Brien is an idiot that destroyed the teams future and ran it into the ground – hence he was fired and in all likelihood will never have a HC position in the NFL again.
As far as personality or character issues, Watson has never had a problem and did not say anything about the horrible trade, nor when O’Brien got rid of Hopkins for no good reason, he trusted the organization was doing the right thing. They fired O’Brien when they finally woke up saw he destroyed the team and that is when Watson interjected and said “hey, I want some input on our next hires because I trusted you knew you what you were doing hiring these guys and letting them do whatever they did” Houston said okay and went and hired someone without getting his input – THAT is massive disrespect and I wouldn’t want to work for a company like that – you can’t trust them.
Flores and Grier are not incompetent and won’t due that what Houston allowed O’Brien to do or operate like Houston’s FO , if they did we should all stop being fans right now. So fairly certain Watson would have no issues whatsoever with Flores or Grier.
I don’t doubt you, because I don’t know. But I doubt if Houston ever said to Watson, “Okay, we’ll be certain to ask your opinion before we hire a new coach.” It’s just not done in pro sports, and certainly not done with a 25-year old kid.
Even if they did break a promise, it happens. Go into the owner’s office and privately spit in his face. But dragging this all out into the public is bad form, if you ask me.
Also, you’re not wrong about Bill O’Brien. But, come on, is he the first and only coach/GM to blow up his team? People make bonehead decisions all the time in sports. I don’t blame Watson or Watts or anyone else for hating O’Brien and the silly moves he made, but you have a chance to start a clean slate with a new head coach…and instead you refuse to even try?
It’s like when we finally got rid of Adam Gase…zero Dolphins said, “Well I was not consulted on the new coach, so I demand to be traded and refuse to play for Brian Flores.”
According to him management said he would have input. And the point is you don’t tell the face of your franchise they’ll have input in who the franchise will hire as coach or GM then not look to them for input, that is going back on your word and just plain disrespectful. I don’t know how everyone else was raised or operates but I don’t respect anyone who does not respect me – if you want respect then you must give respect … Watson was justified by management’s actions.
And yes, it’s not something that is done often but it does happen, Patrick Ewing had input when the Knicks went after Pat Riley and there are other examples I can name if you want. Personally, if your star players are competent, management should value their players input in the hiring process, chemistry and philosophy between players and coaches are essential to success, that’s why all those Philbin and Sporano teams sucked, their coaching philosophies and the talent just didn’t work together, it was squares trying to be jammed into circled spaces.
And we don’t know that some players didn’t say we don’t wanna play for Flores (except for Fitzpatrick, who proved Flores was wrong as he balled out in Pittsburgh), what we do know is that the offensive unit revolted against Bill Lazor for his boring, predictable, and lack of innovation and imagination on offense, hence he was eventually fired – same thing for Dan Henning, and even Mike Sherman, so it does happen and Dolphin players have done it.
I can’t really recall any coach/GM who did what O’Brien did, at least when Shanahan was with Denver, his bad decisions came AFTER he built his team and won 2 SBs. In Washington, well, Snyder kept putting his hand in the cooking pot and it was a complete disaster. Even Shula, he was a coach/GM for the most part during the 80’s but he didn’t do as horrible a job and destroying his team, especially when his team was close to be a serious SB contender – and that’s not to at Shula was a great GM because he wasn’t during the 80’s.
Bottom line, Watson had every right to act the way he did, as did Rodgers – those are talented players who want to win.
Off topic but worth noting. Per Armando “ The Dolphins this offseason traded Shaq Lawson to the Houston Texans for Benardrick McKinney. The Texans traded Lawson to the Jets. The Dolphins have cut McKinney.” Also “ The Jets worked out DE Dion Jordan according to the NFL wire.”
After cutting Kyle Van Noy, and now McKinney, I don’t know who Flores plans to use at LB. Jerome Baker is steady, but the rest of the crew are young or journeymen or the ol’ undrafted free agents, etc etc.
We all agree that Houston has zero leverage here. The only competition the fins should be concerned about, would be the Other teams interested in trading for Watson. They would be the ones driving the market.
I’m sure Grier and Garfinkle have already set their top tier offer, and it will be all the Other teams interest and offers, weighed against that, that will determine where Watson goes, if anywhere.
As mentioned (above) before – this deal could have an even greater impact than the Dall-Minn deal did, and completely change 2 teams for decades, and beyond.
Cam Newton is cut!
Yes kinda surprised but on a good note the Fins now know who’s starting. They’ll throw him some things he’s never seen.
Agreed. The rookie might be good, but I can’t see him winning his first-ever NFL game against our solid defense. We might actually win opening week for once!
I feel so awful for Tua in this situation. Even if we nix the Watson deal (let’s hope!!), the kid Tua will know that Grier was trying to get rid of him. It’s like when Ross “hired” Jim Harbaugh to be our coach, until Jim refused…then Ross had to lie and say current coach Tony Sparano was my choice all along.
Tua is a pro that is why he was so highly touted. Playing under Satan gave him those intangibles. I expect him to have a chip and realize he better produce as anyone can be gonzo in a second. Look at scam Newton although vaccination probably played a part as it’s scary heading into the season not knowing if your QB will be available.
More rumors: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/source-dolphins-owner-stephen-ross-171725025.html
Of course, all the Dolphins need to do is deny the rumors. Publicly back Tua and publicly say no thank you to the ungrateful holdout Watson.
But Grier, Flores, and now Ross are all refusing to comment…which renews the fear in my heart that they are after Watson. God knows why.
And if Watson were smart, he would veto the Dolphins trade anyway. He is GUARANTEED $10 million to sit home all year. Why risk your health at all?
Well, two things, he’ll be deactivated every week but kept on the roster so per guidelines, he has to be at every game on the bench so there is no staying home for him.
But it will get interesting after a few weeks because I believe a team can only do that a handful of times unless there is an injury or something clearly not right otherwise Watson could take legal action against the team and would be completely justified.
Also, competitors compete, he’s a competitor so why would he reject an opportunity to play for a team that actually knows what they are doing instead of playing for a team as inept as the Texans – they have literally been the laughing stock of the league the last few seasons.
I think it would be funny if the Texans are competitive this year, even after throwing away all their good players. They play in a weak division, so anything is possible!
Weak division? Did you forget the reigning AFC South champs are in their division and 2 seasons removed from being in the AFCCG? Tennessee would trample everyone in our division except Buffalo. The Titans improved their pathetic defense from last season and if Jones is completely healthy, him and Brown are the best wr tandem in the NFL. They still need help at kicker but they own that division and will continue to do so as long as they have Henry and Tannehill.
Tennessee will win the division barring a rash of season ending injuries. Jacksonville will in all likelihood be the doormat of the division while Indy and Houston will fight for 2nd and 3rd place.
My opinions of course: I think the Titans were a good team, but they exceeded what they should have done, and I don’t see them as being as dominant this season, even with some new tools on offense. (I always like J. Jones and I hope he has a few more seasons to shine). Remember, they got to play the Texans twice and the Jags twice…that is 4 automatic wins that the NFL handed them right there. They get those same 4 wins this season too. The Colts are a shambles with no QB. Sorry, but I’m not a believer in Carson Wentz. The Jags are the Jags. Perhaps Trevor Lawrence’s star power carries them to a few more wins than last year, but they’re going nowhere anytime soon. By default, someone from the AFC South makes the playoffs, and like clockwork, they get bumped off and never get to the Super Bowl.
Kinda like every team in the AFC East, before the fall of the Patriots? Or the North because Jackson isn’t a real QB? And everyone outside of the Chiefs in the West – every division is weak by your logic. And yes, the Chiefs will represent the AFC in the SB again this year.
Tennessee exceeded what they should have done? 2 years ago, yes. Last year? Absolutely not, if anything they underperformed and were 1 and done thanks to terrible defensive play and a plethora of injuries to the offense. As for this season, they’ll easily win the South again as they’ve improved on defense and finally got a complimentary wr to Brown. While losing J. Smith is huge, his replacement is serviceable and they should easily be a 10 plus win team.
As for the rest of the division, we’ll see, but Jacksonville is dead on arrival.
The NFL has an extremely odd and unfair scheduling system that allows luck to play a huge part in it. We play the NFC South this year. (Atlanta, New Orleans, Tampa, and Carolina). As luck would have it, 3 of those teams are expected to be sub-par, while Tampa is the only true powerhouse in that group. By comparison, the NFC West has 4 powerhouses, and lucky for us, we don’t face them this year. In addition, you get your 6 division games. For many years, the Patriots got 5 automatic wins in those 6 division games. (I still don’t know how, but the Dolphins were the one team who usually split the season series vs. Brady). For decades, the Browns and Bengals were laughing stocks, giving the Steelers and Ravens 4 automatic wins. Credit both of those teams for always staying relevant…perhaps a bad year sprinkled in here or there, but they’re always in the mix.
I’m not saying the Chiefs will win the SB this year, but they are almost certain to make the playoffs. Sorry, but the Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers are all weak/rebuilding teams. More than likely, the Chiefs sweep those scrub teams, making them 6-0 in the division. This year, the Chiefs drew the laughable NFC East, so they should go 4-0 vs. embarrassing teams like the Giants, Redskins, Cowboys, and Eagles. Right off the bat…that is TEN easily winnable games for the chiefs. 10! The NFL didn’t plan it that way; it’s just the way the cards fell this year.
I’m also tired of the Watson lovers saying that having him in Miami makes us instant Super Bowl contenders. How many times have we heard that over the years?
We are definitely closer with him than we are with Tua – at best Tua is a game manager whereas Watson is a bona-fide playmaker.
Think about it for a second, despite his defense blowing almost every single game last season, he carried his team to 4 wins with barely supporting cast of note. We just missed the playoffs after a pathetic performance from Tua, and just about all the games Tua won was because of the defense. Put Watson on that team with the players they’ve acquired this off-season and Miami is easily a playoff team, probably a division winner and a possible SB contender – if the Miami front office didn’t think so then they would have shutdown the rumors by now but they haven’t because they know Watson is a huge upgrade over Tua and is capable of putting them in the SB.
Although I see your point, you can make the same argument that Tua had even less of a supporting cast than Watson. I mean, Mack Hollins and Malcolm Perry were his starting receivers some games. Ouch! Tua’s lifetime winning percentage is better than Watson’s. Yes, I know that is a skewed stat, but still, the numbers are there. Tua is 6-3, for a win percentage of .666. Watson is 28-25, which is .528. I don’t doubt your point about our defense helped Tua. I also remember Tua’s first start, when he fumbled away the ball on his very first play. Not cool ! But I still feel the enthusiasm for Tua, the excitement when we drafted him. I think his good attitude is refreshing. Yes, I call Watson a whiner and I think he is a negative person, given everything he’s putting Houston through. Your point is that is he justified, and that is true also. But Xavien Howard was also justified in his belief that he deserves more money than Byron Jones. Just because your assertions are correct, there are still ways to handle it professionally. And “I won’t play unless I get my way” is never the best course of action (in my view)
Lmao, that’s more than a skewed stat, it’s utterly ridiculous. But fine, let’s be REALLY honest about that winning percentage for a moment. No one in their right mind would deny that Tua’s defense carried him to those wins despite Tua’s constant 3 and outs and his 202 average yards per game. Now, let’s compare that to Watson’s rookie season where he average 242 yards over 7 games … unlike Tua, Watson could actually move an offense. And he threw far more TDS (18) in seven games (6 of which he started) than Tua threw in 9 games, a poultry 11TDs. Oh, and Tua got 361 yards against Buffalo and the majority of those yards came in garbage time otherwise Tua’s average would be below 200 yards a game – that is beyond pathetic, even for a rookie, especially a 1st round pick.
And let’s also address the 500lb elephant, Watson has NEVER been benched for looking completely lost during a game in a season, let alone twice in a season, and it would have been a 3rd time if Fitzpatrick didn’t get covid before the last game of the season. Oh, and Watson was on his way to easily securing rookie of the year before injury cut his season short, something Tua could have only dreamed of doing. In no reality is Tua even near the same level Watson is on.
Wow, you actually think Howard was justified? Are you forgetting that at the time of his contract extension Howard was made the HIGHEST PAID DB in the league. And keep in mind he was given this after missing about a seasons worth of games because of multiple injuries. So, fast forward to a few years later and guess what happens, salaries go up and the cost for a UFA is higher than a RFA, Miami wanted Jones and they paid a premium for him as they were in a bidding war. The next contract Howard gets will in all likelihood make him the highest paid DB in the NFL AGAIN, what happens if Miami signs Jaire Alexander or Gilmore 2 or 3 years AFTER Howard signs a new contract and they are paid more than Howard at the time of their signings but aren’t the highest paid in the league? – are you saying Howard is entitled to demand another renegotiation in the middle of a deal he signed 2 to 3 years prior? That’s a poor approach to business and financial ruin and failure waiting to happen in just about any industry.
And it isn’t I won’t pay unless I get it my way, it’s I don’t want to play for an incompetent team that isn’t committed to winning and lies to me – that’s what Watson’s beef is … do you not understand that?
Intrigue me, give me your thoughts on Dan Marino, how do you feel about him as a person and competitor? I’m really interested to know.
I saw a few social media comments that I thought were interesting…basically they said that giving up 3 number-ones for Watson is worth it, because Grier is a terrible drafter anyway (in the first round). Grier nails mid-round picks, but is a poor evaluator of stud/star #1 picks
Look at our recent first rounders under Grier:
Tua (on the fence)
Noah I. (99% sure is a bust)
Austin Jackson (mediocre at best)
Charles Harris (major major bust)
Minkah (All-Pro –but doesn’t count cuz Grier gave him away)
Christian Wilkins (mediocre at best)
I cannot disagree with the point the commenter made. I still don’t want Watson, but Grier might waste those #1 picks anyway