Miami Dolphins-Deshaun Watson chatter intensifies at Senior Bowl

In a non-COVID-19 year, Senior Bowl is one of best weeks for gossip on the NFL calendar, perhaps second only to the NFL Scouting Combine.

Take hundreds of members of the media, player agents, coaches and scouts and add alcohol, and it stirs up quite the potent cocktail of buzz.

This year is different, of course. Attendance at the Senior Bowl is way down, and those decided to attend are showing a bit of pandemic-driven discretion after hours.

The party isn’t over, but it isn’t the same.

Yet despite that, we’re told there’s a rumor in Mobile that won’t go away:

Deshaun Watson to the Dolphins.

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Over fried oysters, over late-night beers or simply over some 7-on-7 drills, it’s the topic of conversation.

But is it idle gossip, or a sign of something more credible?

Three weeks ago, the Dolphins potentially trading for Watson was simply a matter of dot-connecting.

Watson isn’t happy with the Texans. The Dolphins, always eager to upgrade in often unconventional ways during the Brian Flores/Chris Grier era, have the assets and cap space to swing a trade. Watson, according to ESPN, has interest in going to Miami.

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But it’s a huge leap between imagining something could happen and what it takes to make a deal that big to actually happen.

The cost would be huge. Watson would need to sign off on the deal; his contract has a no-trade clause. And the Dolphins would have plenty of competition, most notably from the Jets, who have just as much to offer the Texans as Grier and Flores.

And yet, the Dolphins are repeatedly named as the most likely Watson destination by plugged-in league sources.

“The chatter is getting louder,” said one informed league source. “Watson feels like the situation [in Houston] is unfixable, and Miami is seen as the front runner behind the scenes.”

Not in the mix. Front-runner.

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It should be said, this isn’t a universal belief. Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline reported, based on conversations that he’s had, that “speculation by league decision-makers at the Senior Bowl [has] smart money on the New York Jets.”

Some important context: The Dolphins have not said anything on the record about Watson in the three weeks since word got out that he was unhappy with the Texans and their owner, Cal McNair.

The Dolphins’ public position is Tua Tagovailoa is their starting quarterback in 2021, and even if they felt otherwise, NFL tampering rules prohibit teams from expressing interest to the media in another club’s player.

Plus, even if Houston and Miami do negotiate and agree upon a trade, it cannot be consummated until the league year begins on March 17.

Meaning? Get ready for two more months of nonstop gossip regarding the biggest story line of the offseason, not just for the Dolphins, but the entire NFL.