Quarterback Deshaun Watson being traded? That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.
Houston has waited since 1994 to find a quarterback like Watson, so how stupid would it be to trade him after the best season of his four-year career?
Can you imagine new Texans general manager Nick Caserio dealing Watson to a quarterback-needy team? That would make him more unpopular than Jack Easterby, the executive vice president of football operations.
Just imagine the plunge in sales of sponsorships, suites, club seats and season tickets at NRG Stadium.
Few know better than Caserio what it takes to win a Super Bowl because he was part of six championship teams at New England. Caserio knows it starts with a great quarterback. The Patriots had one in Tom Brady. Are we to believe Caserio would actually trade Watson? Or Cal McNair would even approve it? Give me a break.
That hasn’t kept media and fans across the country from speculating and predicting Watson will be traded even though he hasn’t issued a trade request that we know of. So far, nothing’s been leaked to the national media by people close to Watson that he’s demanding to be traded. Maybe it will be.
Caserio is immersed in the process of hiring a new coach. So far, he’s interviewed five candidates — Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Buffalo defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley and Baltimore assistant head coach/wide receivers David Culley.
All but Staley, who was hired by the Chargers, are still available.
I don’t think for a second Watson will be traded, but what if McNair, Caserio and Easterby put their heads together and decided to ship him to another team? It wouldn’t be the first time dunderheads in Houston front offices made ridiculous decisions that embarrassed the franchise and haunted the owners for years.
Check out this Hall of Shame created by the Oilers, Astros and Rockets.
Let’s start with the Oilers. They were the worst of our city’s three professional teams at getting rid of players for one reason or another and watching them play so well with other teams they ended up in the Hall of Fame.
For instance, in 1994, they traded quarterback Warren Moon, who had led them to an NFL-best seven consecutive playoff appearances, to Minnesota because the new salary cap was kicking in and they didn’t want to pay him. Moon is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After the 1972 season, the Oilers traded safety Kenny Houston, a six-year veteran, to Washington. Houston, the best strong safety in NFL history, played eight more years and, like Moon, was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A lot of fans don’t realize that Seattle receiver Steve Largent was actually drafted by the Oilers in 1976. Largent, a fourth-round pick, was traded to the Seahawks before the start of the season for an eighth-round draft choice. When he retired, he was the league’s career receiving leader. And, like Moon and Houston, Largent is enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
And how about wide receiver Charlie Joiner? After four seasons, he was traded to Cincinnati before being dealt to San Diego and becoming part of Air Coryell, one of the league’s most prolific passing teams in history. Joiner also is in the Hall of Fame.
OK, enough about some Oilers’ trades that will live in Houston sports infamy. On to the Astros.
John J. McMullen, one of the most vilified owners in our city’s history, was celebrated in 1980 when he paid pitcher Nolan Ryan $1 million a year to come home to Houston. But when McMullen thought Ryan was too old nine years later and let him leave — to the hated Rangers, of all teams — McMullen received death threats and wasn’t welcome in Harris County.
Of all the bad moves the Astros made through the decades — and I don’t count Gerrit Cole and George Springer because we knew they were leaving as free agents — none was worse than Joe Morgan.
Little Joe played the first nine seasons of his career with the Astros. He was a fan favorite before they traded him to Cincinnati in a multiplayer deal that ripped the hearts out of loyal fans. He was voted the National League Most Valuable Player two times and won two World Series rings as a vital cog in the Big Red Machine.
Ryan and Morgan have busts in Cooperstown, N.Y.
A couple of other unpopular Astros’ trades involved pitcher Mike Cuellar and first baseman Lance Berkman.
Cuellar, a lefty, was traded to Baltimore in 1969 after four seasons with the Astros, who were still a struggling team. Cuellar won at least 20 games four times with the Orioles. He also won a Cy Young Award and two World Series rings on one of the greatest starting pitching staffs in baseball history.
Berkman, one of the most popular Astros and a member of the Killer B’s, was traded to the Yankees and won a World Series with the Cardinals.
And then there are the Rockets. When putting some thought into this idea, the first two players who came to find were Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone.
The Big E, the greatest player in University of Houston history, was traded to Baltimore after the after the 1972 season and won an NBA championship.
The Rockets didn’t want to pay Malone. The 76ers signed him to an offer sheet. Rather than match the offer sheet, the Rockets shipped him to Philadelphia, where he won an NBA title.
Hayes and Malone are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
So, if the Texans were to trade Watson, it would be an idiotic decision, of course, but just another in a way-too-long list of our city’s greatest players who finished their careers somewhere besides Houston.
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