Brandon Jackson

A quarterback of Deshaun Watson’s caliber has never been available for trade before in the NFL. Watson is 25 and coming off of probably his personal best season as a pro. He is a top-5 player at the most important position in sports. He’s been injured before, but nothing that has been career threatening. And considering the injuries he has played through, he may be the toughest quarterback in the NFL.

And the Texans somehow found a way to piss him off.

The Texans not including him in the search for GM looks like it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Bad coaching decisions, horrible trades, terrible offensive line play, and a porous defense all contributed to Watson’s discontent I’m sure. But this time, the Texans finally broke him. According to reports, he was told that he would be involved in the decision to hire a GM, and also the process to pick a head coach. That does not mean he was going to be choosing the GM or head coach, just be involved with some input. After being told this, it didn’t happen. He could take having all of his weapons and help sent away for peanuts, but being lied to was the last straw, which is fair.

So now he wants out. I will start by saying, there is no way on God’s green Earth the Houston Texans should trade Deshaun Watson. Under no circumstances should they voluntarily trade him away. No chance. Make him prove he will sit out games, and when it is clear that he will continue to do so, that is the only time you should trade him. Not a minute before.

Teams spend draft pick after draft pick hoping to find a player like Deshaun Watson. Quarterbacks are playing into their 40’s now, and he’s only 25. Which brings me to my next point. If the Texans are in fact dumb enough to actually trade him, the offers I see circulating on Twitter are laughable at best. If you come up with a trade offer that includes 2 first round picks or less, just stop right now. The Texans themselves paid 2first round picks for someone to help keep Deshaun upright. Do you think they would give him up for the same price? Jalen Ramsey and Jamal Adams both went for 2 first round picks and they play defensive back, so that math does not add up.

A realistic offer should start with no less than 4 first round picks. That still would not be enough for a quarterback of this caliber, but it’s just the starting point. Truthfully, the fairest offer I have seen proposed came from Nick Wright on “First Things First.” His suggested trade offer was one team gets Deshaun Watson, and the Texans get that team’s first round pick every year Watson is on that team’s roster. That’s truly the only fair proposal. Because of age and ability, I would say that trade is fair for Watson, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen. Patrick Mahomes is untradeable.

If the Texans decide to trade Watson, I don’t think the franchise would ever be able to recover. He is a truly special talent, and you may only ever get one chance with a guy like him over a lifetime. They should do everything in their power to make it right with him, but it may be too little, too late.

Buccaneers vs. Packers

Finally after all these years, we get to see Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady in the playoffs. This should be a good matchup, though I think the Packers are very much the better team here. They have the MVP playing at a high level, and the best receiver on planet Earth at the moment. Davante Adams can not, and will not be stopped. Carlton Davis will have his hands full, and he has been good this season, but Adams is playing a level above everyone right now.

The Bucs have played good defense this postseason, but I’m not sure if they are truly this good, or a byproduct of playing mediocre quarterbacks in the playoffs (have fun at home Drew Brees.) Brady hasn’t played great, but he has absolutely played good enough to win games obviously. And I never feel comfortable betting against Brady in January or February, but I am going to anyway because I think the Packers have more to offer in this game.

The game will be in Aaron Rodgers’ hands, and with how he’s playing right now, that will mean a victory for Green Bay.

Winner: Packers

Bills vs. Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes is playing. There was really never a doubt if he would play or not, but it is good to know that he is cleared to go.

This is what I have been looking forward to for a while now. The Bills have been fun to watch all year, and have become a better team since they lost to the Chiefs in week 6. Josh Allen has proven to be a force in this league. Stefon Diggs has shown the world what he is capable of at wide receiver. The defense has been playing great as of late, they held the Baltimore Ravens to 3 points. This will be an entertaining game, that should be close throughout. But the Bills will still come up short.

The Chiefs showed last week while Mahomes was in the game, that it is business as usual. Mahomes was efficient, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce both made plays all game, and Darrel Williams even ran the ball very well. On the other side of the ball, Tyrann Mathieu mad one of the best plays on the ball I’ve seen this season when he intercepted a Baker Mayfield pass. He’s locked in, so that means the rest of the defense will follow suit. He’s that good.

As long as Patrick Mahome doesn’t show any ill effects of being concussed, the Chiefs should have no problem winning a close game. Josh Allen and the Bills have shown that they can score enough points to keep up with the Chiefs, but I don’t believe that is how this game is going to go. I expect both teams to score under 30 points just like they did in their first matchup. Both defenses are very good defenses. I believe the difference will be that Mahomes will perform better in the face of defensive pressure than Allen will. This is also the biggest game of Allen’s life, while Mahomes has been here before. That’s just enough to edge it in the Chiefs’ favor.

Winner: Chiefs