Philadelphia Eagles

Status of Eagles' Watson trade pursuit takes a big turn: report

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We're just three weeks into the 2021 NFL regular season, but already the trade winds are blowing around the most talked-about player in the league... who isn't even playing.

Deshaun Watson, the Houston Texans quarterback who is still facing more than 20 allegations of sexual assault and harassment, is on the Texans' roster but has not played a snap, and barring something unexpected likely will not play a snap this year. 

The Eagles, in the wake of the Carson Wentz debacle, surfaced as one of the teams around the league with an interest in trading for Watson as their next franchise QB. He's young, he's elite, and he wants out of Houston, while the Eagles have a bevy of draft picks to trade. From a football-only perspective, it makes perfect sense. But right now, the football-only perspective isn't terribly important.

Now, as buzz around Watson kicks back up with the trade deadline a little over a month away, FOX Sports' NFL insider Jay Glazer - one of the most privy-to-backroom-chatter reporters in the football world - is shooting down the idea of the Eagles still being in the Watson trade race.

Glazer reported, twice, on Thursday night that the Eagles are not currently in pursuit of a Watson trade:

That's good news.

The question of whether the Eagles can afford to acquire Watson (they likely can) is one thing; the question of whether they should is another entirely. Even if the legal system ends up protecting Watson and he serves what will likely be a relatively minor punishment from the NFL, the idea of adding someone who allegedly serially harassed and assaulted women over his time in Houston isn't going to sit well with a good chunk of the Eagles' fanbase. 

It's unfortunate that the Eagles were even tied to the Watson trade race in the first place, considering their reported interest in the QB didn't emerge until after the allegations were brought against Watson.

And the fact that the Eagles' top decision-makers reportedly gave pursuit of Watson "the green light" at one point or another, even if that turns out to have been old information, is disappointing.

It doesn't matter how Jalen Hurts plays, now or in October. There are plenty of solutions for the future of the Eagles' quarterback room - a different trade; a trade up in next year's draft; another year of Hurts while they wait for the right guy - and none of them should include Watson.

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