Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson hasn't played for his team in over a year due to trade demands and multiple sexual assault lawsuits levied against him. No team has any idea when/if Watson will become available to play again, as he hasn't officially been suspended by the NFL. His deposition for the lawsuits is expected to take place later on this month, at which point the league may step in and finally issue their punishment…or they could not. With so much up in the air regarding Watson's future, you wouldn't expect to hear many rumors of teams being linked to the former Pro Bowler. With Watson's immense talent, though, that was never going to be the case, and one of the latest teams rumored to be on Watson's “wishlist,” is the Minnesota Vikings.
With a young, offensive-minded head coach, good offensive line, extremely good running game, and great receivers, Minnesota seems like quarterback heaven. Their current QB, Kirk Cousins, has certainly enjoyed playing with this bunch but seems to be holding them back at times. Also holding Minnesota back is Cousins' $45 million salary in 2022. Although it is the last year of his deal, that amount of money is such a large chunk of the salary cap that it can be debilitating for a team that is trying to add talent to the defense. This is likely why the team is being linked to Watson as a realistic possibility. A trade for the Texans QB would allow the Vikings to extend Watson and therefore lower his cap number in 2022, freeing up cap space to go after the aforementioned defensive upgrades. So, what would a Vikings-Texans trade for Watson actually look like?
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The perfect trade Vikings must offer Texans for Deshaun Watson
Texans get: Kirk Cousins, Garrett Bradbury, 2022 first-round pick, 2023 first-round pick
Vikings get: Deshaun Watson
Cousins is on the books for $45 million in 2022, but only $10 million of it is dead cap tied to him being traded, the Vikings are in no position to cut him as that would leave behind $45 million in dead cap. So, if the Vikings have any intentions of adding Watson, they need to be able to unload Cousins in the deal. What actually might work in Minnesota's favor is that Houston wants to be bad once again in 2022.
For Houston, trading for a player like Cousins and having him take up 20 percent of your salary cap is a way to do just that. Especially if they decide to bench him for a portion of the season, which would be likely. Houston has their eyes on the 2023 quarterback class and adding an extra first-round pick in that season could help them move up in the draft to acquire their signal-caller of the future. Cousins would be off the books in 2023 and the money could be used to sign Bradbury to an extension.
For Minnesota, Bradbury is only under contract for one more season and is looking at a decent-sized deal. With money already invested into Brian O'Neill and more expected to be paid to Christian Darrisaw and Ezra Cleveland in the future, Bradbury could be a tab bit expendable. The two first-rounders are tough to part with, but if they believe that Watson will be available for a portion of 2022 and all of 2023, they could deem the picks to be expendable, as well. After all, a pick at the end of the first round isn't much different than a second-rounder.
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