NBC: Cardinals and Texans could swap Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray

It’s been a while since we last heard about Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans but the word around the NFL is that, regardless of Houston’s desire to keep him, he’s done with the franchise and simply won’t suit up for them anymore.

The Texans seem reluctant to work on a trade or even listen to offers for him but as the season approaches, they’ll eventually have to come to their senses and realize that Watson won’t play another snap for them.

So, now that the Arizona Cardinals have signed former Texans JJ Watt, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says that there have been some rumors about a potential quarterback swap between them and Houston.

Cardinals And Texans Could Trade Deshaun Watson And Kyler Murray, Says Pro Football Talk

If Kyler Murray agrees, the Cardinals would have a better – yet way more expensive and slightly older – quarterback, while the Texans would land a franchise player ready to contribute right away and running on a very reasonable deal:

“It’s a move that instantly would make sense for the Texans and Watson. Houston would replace one franchise quarterback with another, and Watson would be reunited with DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt, on a team that had twice the wins as the Texans in 2020. The Cardinals. however, would have to be willing to embrace Watson (and his contract) in place of Murray, the first overall pick in 2019 who has shown flashes of superstardom,” Florio said.

Florio also said that the Texans could ask them for more assets rather than a straight quarterback swap, but that Arizona isn’t likely to cave in to those demands given Murray’s contract:

“From Arizona’s perspective, the argument against adding more could be that they’re giving up Murray and the three years left on his rookie deal for a contract that pays out $10 million this year and that has a huge $35 million salary in 2022,” he concluded.

This is definitely a possibility to consider as we look ahead to next season, and perhaps would be the best-case-scenario for every franchise involved. But for now, we’ll just have to wait and see.