Former NFL quarterback and VSiNLive host Sean King blew up Twitter Wednesday afternoon with this tweet saying that if his legal situation clears up, Houston Texans QB Deshawn Watson is heading to Pittsburgh.
Hearing that things were going well on Friday, Deshawn Watson told the stalkers that shortly thereafter… @VSiNLive @1TimMurray @TheAOster @Bill80 @mlombardiNFL
— Sean King (@realshaunking) March 9, 2022
King joined Night Cap VSiN to expand on this tweet. In full, that’s what he said.
“Bat phone and bat email, I woke up this morning and there were messages on both that the interest was mutual. And that Deshawn Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract, but Pittsburgh is his desired destination if he can find legal clarity.
“As we know, Pittsburgh is in a situation where they need a quarterback too. They are on the market for one. I think in terms of the draft, Pittsburgh will have to get creative. I think the player or players they could send back are far more effective and meaningful than the ones Denver sent to Seattle, which I think lessens the need for the amount of rough assets that Seattle was able to acquire for Russell Wilson . Again, this starts on Friday and hopefully everything goes well and we find some clarity. And I was told that it might be announced soon after that Deshawn Watson would be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ next quarterback.
This is not a very big expansion of what King’s original tweet port said. A grand jury will meet Friday, and if his criminal charges are dropped, teams will be more inclined to trade Watson, even if his civil suits remain. According to ESPN, if nine of the 12 jurors vote to prosecute, the Texas District Attorney may continue to hear his case.
Perhaps the newest and most interesting part of what King said was conscription compensation. King believes it will require more players and potentially less draft capital than what Denver gave Seattle for Russell Wilson. The Broncos traded two first round picks (2022 and 2023, the first of which finished 9th overall), two second round picks, and a fifth round pick in exchange for Wilson and a fourth round pick. The Broncos turned down two players: a solid defenseman in Shelby Harris and a good young tight end in Noah Fant.
King thinks the Steelers would have given more in player form and a little less in draft equity. Rumor has it that the Texans want three picks in the draft and even more.
It should be noted Jerry Dulac of PPG quickly dismissed the idea. after King’s initial tweet on Wednesday, while other beat writers agreed with Dulac’s assessment. To play devil’s advocate, the Steelers would be wise to drop any idea of a potential deal until the criminal aspect of his charges is cleared.
However, no other reporter confirmed King’s report, which I’m sure made the national media struggle. The latest news on Watson’s front is that Carolina plans to give him a push. Is it possible that King has a good source? Given the craziness of the off-season even before free agency, anything is possible. Given King’s relatively short time frame, we should know if he’s right or wrong by the end of the weekend, assuming Watson’s legal situation looks a lot better by then.
Watch the entire clip below.
#ITSIMI on the #Night hat @1TimMurray as well as @realshaunking discuss the twitter storm Sean started with Deshawn Watson pic.twitter.com/qUaZjs79V0
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) March 10, 2022