3 updated trade offers for the Panthers to land Deshaun Watson

Carolina Panthers trade package No. 1

This ticks all the boxes if reports about what the Houston Texans want for Deshaun Watson are correct. The Carolina Panthers would be giving up their top-two NFL Draft selections in 2021 and 2022, providing them with two defensive starters who are proven and also throwing a quarterback in for good measure.

Whether the Texans would take this is another matter entirely. Convincing them to take on Kawann Short and Teddy Bridgewater’s salaries would be a tough sell and Shaq Thompson is also in line for a massive increase in pay next season.

Short has also had his troubles with injury over the last two years. But there is nothing to suggest he cannot play at a high level once again if these problems don’t resurface.

Given how inconsistent Bridgewater was in 2020, Houston would be skeptical about bringing him in with almost no weapons to utilize in the passing game after they traded away DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller becoming a free-agent this spring.

However, this deal would also include the No. 8 overall selection, which could be spent on a potential franchise signal-caller. So Bridgewater would be a nice stop-gap until they can release him with minimal cost in 2022.

The Texans might also want defensive players who are a little younger and with less in the way of financial commitment from their perspective.