The Carolina Panthers’ teetering pursuit of Deshaun Watson has now come to an official end . . . for now.
Yes, the team had already reportedly bowed out of the chase for the Houston Texans quarterback as far back as last week. In fact, a subsequent rumor involving running back Christian McCaffrey being offered in a potential deal was also tossed to the side by the organization.
But, now, we can definitively say the Panthers—or any other team, for that matter—will not have Watson under center for them in 2021.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Watson’s last hope to escape from Houston was crushed just hours before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. The Miami Dolphins—who were considered the outright favorites to make a swap—decided against the move, leaving the 26-year-old with the Texans for at least the remainder of the season.
Although the Dolphins did due diligence on Deshaun Watson and had conversations with Houston, Miami will not make a trade for the QB, per source. Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross, who had contingencies that needed to be met for any deal, made the final decision to not move forward.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 2, 2021
As also reported by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, a near-trade last week between Miami and Houston was thwarted after the Texans increased their asking price upon hearing Watson was seeking to settle his 22 civil lawsuits.
As reported on FNIA, Texans and Dolphins were closing in on a deal last week. Texans caught wind that Watson was trying to finalize a settlement of the 22 civil lawsuits, at Miami’s insistence. Texans then drove up the asking price. Talks cratered and never recovered.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 2, 2021
This, of course, leaves the door open for the Panthers to try and follow up on their interest in Watson this upcoming offseason. Whether his legal troubles will continue to play a vital part in this situation as a whole is, obviously, still unclear.