USAT: Buccs Wire audio clip

USAT: Buccs Wire

Mar 11, 2022

A grand jury decided Friday not to bring criminal charges against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, stemming from multiple allegations of sexual assault/misconduct. - Watson is one of many veteran quarterbacks who has been linked to the Bucs in NFL rumors throughout the offseason so far, as Tampa Bay looks to replace Tom Brady after his retirement. - Now that Watson won’t face criminal charges, NFL teams in need of a quarterback are expected to ramp up their efforts to acquire him via trade. - If the Bucs are indeed to be among them, they’ll have plenty of competition. The Seattle Seahawks just traded away Russell Wilson, and now have the draft capital it would probably take to get a deal done with Houston. The Carolina Panthers also own the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, which could tilt the scales in their favor. - - From our breaking news coverage on @NFLNetwork: The trade market for Deshaun Watson now that his criminal matters are closed will be active. pic.twitter.com/OamLoszzC2 - — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2022 - - - Tampa Bay could obviously offer multiple first-round picks for Watson, but they’re likely to be similar to this year’s selection, which doesn’t come until No. 27 overall. It’s hard to imagine the Bucs being able to outbid teams like Carolina and Seattle. - Watson does have a full no-trade clause, though, which means he’ll be able to dictate where he goes. If he tells the Texans he wants to play for the Bucs, it may force them to take a lesser deal from Tampa Bay than they might have gotten from a team Watson doesn’t want to play for. That wouldn’t be surprising, given how much more talented Tampa Bay’s roster is than teams like the Panthers and Seahawks right now. - There’s also the fact that despite avoiding criminal chargers, there’s still civil litigation pending against Watson from over 20 different women. The NFL has proven in the past that they can suspend players for violating the league’s Personal Conduct Policy, even without criminal charges. Former Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is one of the more recent examples of this. - Yes, the Bucs could use a star quarterback like Watson. Yes, he won’t be criminally charged. But there are still many other reasons why Tampa Bay might not pursue him as their replacement for the GOAT. - - List - - Who do Bucs fans want to replace Tom Brady? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Bucs Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Bucs Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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Jan 27, 2022