Seahawks explore Deshaun Watson possibility among post-Russell Wilson quarterback options
Deshaun Watson, facing 22 civil lawsuits for sexual misconduct though he will not be criminally charged?
Drew Lock, who failed to become a regular starter for three years after Denver made him a high draft choice?
Geno Smith, the veteran and incumbent backup arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence following Seattle’s last game?
Malik Willis, the engaging, huge-armed draft prospect from smaller Liberty who’s played as many NFL games as you have?
Or a Pete Carroll favorite from years past...Colin Kaepernick?
Heck, after the week the Seahawks just had, anything is possible as the replacement for Russell Wilson as Seattle’s quarterback.
The team rocked the Pacific Northwest and league Tuesday when it actually traded Wilson — to the Broncos, for Lock, tight end Noah Fant, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and five draft choices.
Hours later, fellow Seahawks franchise pillar Bobby Wagner was gone, too. The team released their captain and six-time All-Pro linebacker.
By Thursday, Wilson was in Denver wearing Broncos orange with his personalized brand.
Trading Wilson days after coach Pete Carroll had said they had “no intention” of doing it showed yet again Carroll and general manager John Schneider want the entire league to know they are “in on everything.”
They say it, all the time.
So, yes, the Seahawks are exploring what it might take to trade with the Houston Texans to acquire Watson.
He’s a three-time Pro Bowl passer. He’s seven years younger than Wilson.
In 2020, the last season he played, Watson led the NFL with 4,823 yards passing while throwing for 33 touchdowns. In 2017 as a rookie he had one of the most dynamic performances in Seattle in recent Seahawks history. He threw and ran all over them for 469 total yards and four touchdowns in a 41-38 shootout loss to Wilson.
“Special,” is what Wilson called Watson after that game.
Now, could he be Wilson’s replacement in Seattle?
Don’t rule it out. But...
It’s complicated
A grand jury in Texas decided Friday not to charge Watson criminally for sexual misconduct stemming from the allegations of women that have produced 22 civil lawsuits there. The women allege Watson improperly touched them after he hired them as massage therapists and personal trainers.
He didn’t play a game for Houston all last season, getting paid as a healthy inactive player for all 17 games while his legal proceedings continued. The Texans have been trying to trade him and his $40.4 million salary-cap charge for 2022. Teams such as the Miami Dolphins that have reportedly looked into trading for Watson over the last year have been deterred by that cost, the possibility Watson would be criminally charged and by the Texans wanting multiple first-round draft choices in a trade.
There is also the possibility that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may suspend Watson for multiple games of the coming season for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. And there is the specter of adding a player so many women have accused of sexual assault.
Friday’s decision by the grand jury in Houston to not indict him is expected to open the trade market for Watson.
The two teams linked most often now to acquiring him: quarterback-needy Carolina, which plays close to where Watson starred collegiately at Clemson, and the Seahawks.
One league source told The News Tribune the Seahawks’ interest in Watson is a “story to watch.”
Carroll has not shied from taking on players with troubles in his 12 years running the Seahawks. His most recent example is Josh Gordon. In 2020 Carroll signed the former All-Pro wide receiver despite his eight suspensions for drugs. Gordon failed another test after six weeks with the team. Goodell suspended him again. He didn’t play another game for Seattle and has since signed with Kansas City.
The flip side to trading Wilson is the Seahawks now have the draft capital. They have the ninth-overall pick next month (which the Seahawks do not appear to be targeting for a quarterback, the enticing Willis or anyone else). The team has three of the first 41 choices this year, plus two second-rounders this year and a new first- and a new second-round pick in 2023. Seattle also has the salary-cap space to trade big. Trading Wilson and releasing Wagner cleared $37 million in cap room for 2022.
Important to the situation: Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract with the wayward Texans that has four more seasons and $119 million in base salary on it. So like a free agent, he can pick where he plays next.
Wilson had a no-trade clause with the Seahawks. He picked only Denver.
Watson’s representatives have been working overtime since the grand jury’s decision. Multiple reports citing league sources say the trade market for Watson has accelerated. Houston-based Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network wrote Saturday the Watson’s market has “expanded rapidly” and as of Saturday included Carolina, the Seahawks, Minnesota, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and New Orleans.
“There are a ton of teams interested,” a source told Aaron Wilson, doing the agent’s job of creating leverage and a market for Watson.
People around Seattle are already voicing protests over the Seahawks merely be interested in potentially adding Watson because of his past.
But this past week was a reminder the NFL is a cold, bottom-line business. The Seahawks and chair Jody Allen pay Carroll and Schneider to win games and get the franchise back to the playoffs following their 7-10 season. Watson is the type of young, dynamic, athletic passer Carroll loves. And he’s proven in the league, unlike Lock and any QB they might draft in the next few years.
Yes, this is indeed a “story to watch.”
Loved Lock
The Seahawks loved Lock in 2019 when he was coming out of the University of Missouri.
They loved that he had scholarship offers to play college basketball for Oklahoma, Wichita State and Missouri because he was a sharp 3-point shooter. They loved that he had a prototypical quarterback look at 6 feet 4, 228 pounds with a huge throwing arm, a league source told The News Tribune last week.
But two weeks before that 2019 NFL draft, the Seahawks re-signed Wilson to a then-NFL record $140 million contract extension.
So they used their first-round pick that year on defensive end L.J. Collier, then selected safety Marquise Blair and wide receiver DK Metcalf in round two. Seattle took Blair seven spots after Denver drafted Lock.
A thumb injury limited him to five of 16 games his rookie season with the Broncos. In 2020, Lock injured his shoulder. Denver then signed veteran Teddy Bridgewater for 2021, and that was basically it for Lock as the Broncos’ starter.
Lock is 8-13 in his NFL career, with 25 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
His salary-cap charge for 2022: $1.45 million, in the final year of his rookie contract.
Wilson’s cap charge for this year was $35 million.
Kaepernick resurfaces
The former Super Bowl quarterback for San Francisco hasn’t played since 2016. The league has basically blackballed him for his kneeling during national anthems at games that year to protest police brutality and social inequality.
Now 34, one year older than Wilson, Kaepernick posted on his Twitter account online Thursday a video of his throwing passes at a workout.
“Still Working,” Kaepernick wrote.
Carroll and the Seahawks considered signing Kaepernick in 2017 and again in ‘18.
In 2017, Seattle became the first team since he left the 49ers and the league to have Kaepernick in for a free-agent visit. Upon not signing him then, Carroll said Kaepernick was a starting quarterback, and the Seahawks already had one with Wilson.
They don’t anymore.
In June 2020, Carroll said he regretted not signing Kaepernick in 2017 or ‘18.
“I wouldn’t hesitate—and I’ve said this, ongoing, for years—if Russ ever got tangled up and couldn’t play or something, Kaep would have been an extraordinary candidate to take over,” Carroll said then. “Because of the dynamics of his play. We always really cherish the unique qualities that players bring. And he had a unique style that we couldn’t have respected more.
“But as the backup, I hope he’s going to get a chance to do that. Because, really, he deserves to be playing.”
That was two years ago.
Eason? Smith?
The only other quarterback with Lock on the Seahawks’ roster right now is Jacob Eason. The former University of Georgia and Washington Huskies quarterback from Lake Stevens was Seattle’s third quarterback behind Wilson and Geno Smith last season.
Smith is unsigned and headed to free agency. The 31-year-old former starter for the New York Jets went 1-2 starting after Wilson broke his finger in October 2021.
On Jan. 9, hours after the Seahawks returned from their season-ending win at Arizona, the Washington State Patrol arrested Smith on suspicion of DUI after spotting driving 96 mph in Bellevue
At the NFL combine two weeks ago, when Wilson was still on the team, Carroll was asked by Seattle-area reporters off the podium in Indianapolis about the Seahawks’ interest in re-signing Smith for another season, or if they would just have Eason return only.
“Oh, I like Geno a lot,” Carroll said. “You know, he’s really valuable to us, really valuable and he can play, and I don’t have any question that he can go in the game and play at a really high level.
“So we’ll let them all battle it out. It’ll always be the competition, though. And we’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Seahawks explore Deshaun Watson possibility among post-Russell Wilson quarterback options."
