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The 2021 NFL season is looking quite murky for quarterback Deshaun Watson as the Houston Texans continue to hesitate on trading him in the upcoming offseason. Given their rocky relationship, the former Clemson standout already claimed that he won't play another snap for the Cal McNair-owned team in the future.
In the event that he won't get traded prior to the start of the season, Watson can opt to sit out the Texans' games but his decision to do so will eventually deal a huge hit to his bank account. As per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Watson will be subjected to a fine of $93,085 if he fails to attend the team's mandatory minicamp.
The star gunslinger will also be charged $50,000 a day if he opts to skip training camp as well. The offseason proceedings are expected to run through a total of 34 days on the field, which will eventually incur a fine of $1.7 million to Watson.
Even the preseason games will be a big deal for him as he will be charged with a regular-season game check for every exhibition match that he will sit out. Given that he has a base salary of $10.4 million for the upcoming season, he will be fined $620,000 per game, accounting for a total of $1.86 million if the league pushes through with three preseason matches.
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All in all, Watson is bound to lose $3.653 million in the offseason proceedings alone. He is expected to be poorer by $11.16 million if he proceeds in sitting out the entire regular season, given that the league will stage 17 games in 2021.
The 25-year-old playmaker will also have to return $5.4 million to the Texans as they are bound to recover his signing-bonus allocation in his absence. In totality, Watson will lose a whopping $20.213 million if he misses the entire 2021 season.
Aside from surrendering fines, skipping a season will also pose risks for Watson's current contract. He currently has a base salary of $35 million for the 2022 season. If he opts to skip his campaign in 2021, that number could drop down to as low as $10.54 million, ultimately depriving him of a total of $24 million in salary.
Despite the huge amount of losses, the quarterback remains adamant in his desire to not suit up for the Texans at all moving forward. The grave consequences for Deshaun Watson can still be avoided if only Cal McNair and the Texans will be willing to attend to his trade requests and agree to part ways with him in the months to come.
