The Carolina Panthers are among the teams being linked to a potential Deshaun Watson trade. However, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule is projecting the image that he's not that invested on the potential of the team acquiring the Houston Texans quarterback, per Pat Leonard of  The Daily News.

I asked Matt Rhule with Deshaun Watson available at the trade deadline if the Panthers would do due diligence, and he said “I haven’t done any work on anyone else” and “I believe Sam (Darnold) will be a great quarterback for the Carolina Panthers”

The trade deadline is just less than two weeks away which is on Nov. 2, and Watson could be put by the Texans on the trading block. That being said, the process of moving Watson elsewhere is not at all simple. For one, he has control of where the Texans can ship him because of a no-trade clause on his contract. Moreover, his value is tricky to assess, given the civil lawsuits from over 20 women accusing him of sexual misconduct and the size of his current deal. Watson signed a four-year contract with the Texans worth $156 million back in 2020.

The Panthers don't have the most stable of situations under center. They have Sam Darnold, who's been above average with the Panthers, who acquired him via a trade with the New York Jets over the offseason, but the jury is still out on him. Nevertheless, Rhule likes what he's seeing from Darnold, who's guided the Panthers to a 3-3 record in the first six weeks of the 2021 NFL regular season.