Louis Riddick says Texans ‘blew it’ with Deshaun Watson communication
ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick says the Houston Texans have no one to blame but themselves when it comes to the tension between the organization and quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Riddick, who was one of the two general manager finalists Korn Ferry presented to chairman and CEO Cal McNair, said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Thursday that the Texans’ top brass is to blame for Watson’s grievances against the team because they didn’t handle the communication properly.
“This what happens when you get sloppy and careless regarding relationships and trust in any level of business, whether it be the NFL or anything,” Riddick said. “When you tell somebody something, in this case a franchise caliber player something, you know that he is someone that a lot of your success rides on. And you have open communication with him, which you’re assuming that they had open communication with him on. And then you just totally ignore it.”
Riddick, who was the director of pro personnel for the Philadelphia Eagles form 2010-13, explained the thought process Watson could be having about the hiring of general manager Nick Caserio.
Said Riddick: “So, the young man is sitting there going, ‘Wait a minute. I’m the face of the franchise here. I’m somebody you obviously invested in and have given you everything as far as that return on investment I can possibly give you. And you basically ignore me when you know that the relationship that you have with me, the relationship I have with the head coach, the relationship I have with the weapons that are around me are really what are going to drive us down here.'”
The Texans situation with Watson is also problematic due to the quarterback’s no-trade clause in his contract.
“This is what you inherit,” said Riddick. “You inherit a young player in his prime now who has it in his contract that he’s going to go where he wants to go, or you’re not going to send him where you want to send him. He’s going to have the right to say, ‘Hey, look, this is where I want to go.'”
Houston has other issues that are more pressing or need attention, such as the hiring of a new coach, adjusting to Caserio as general manager, and also deciding defensive end J.J. Watt’s future, as his contract has no more guaranteed money left on his deal.
“You have no one to blame but yourself as far as the people that are the chief decision-makers down there,” Riddick said. “You have no one to blame but yourself. That’s mind-boggling because this is about relationship management. That’s all it is. It’s about communication. That’s all it is, and you blew, and now you’ve ticked him off, and now you’re going to have to pay the price more than likely.”
List
Ranking the trade value of Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson
