3 stumbling blocks that could prevent Panthers trade for Deshaun Watson
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers are reportedly not in pole position
Deshaun Watson’s no-trade clause has thrown a significant spanner in the works regarding the Carolina Panthers and their hopes of making him their franchise quarterback. This is something that’s becoming increasingly prevalent among the top signal-caller across the league, which even saw Kirk Cousins have something similar written into yet another fully guaranteed extension from the Minnesota Vikings recently.
Watson will take a little time to decide what the next step is. It’s been a long time coming with a rollercoaster of emotions and sometimes extreme turbulence, which means it has evolved into a road to redemption for the player wherever he ends up.
According to Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network, the team that is sticking out the most is not the Panthers, but the New Orleans Saints. Mickey Loomis’ disregard for the salary cap has them under for the first time this offseason and a bit more gymnastics to get Watson is not entirely out of the question now.
The Saints have a good offensive line, Alvin Kamara, and Michael Thomas. So it’s not hard to see why this would be an attractive destination for Watson even if the Panthers have an abundance of offensive firepower of their own.
Again, it’s hard to gauge one way or another at this point. There is a game of chess going on and the only people that know what the checkmate will be are Watson and Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio.