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Is anything off limits when discussing trade packages for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson?
Apparently, the answer to that question is no.
Some pretty wild trade scenarios have surfaced in the days since reports of Watson being “extremely unhappy” with Texans management, but Eric Rueb of the Providence Journal might have come up with the most insane, hypothetical concept of them all as it relates to the New England Patriots.
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The Patriots Should Trade Who?
According to Rueb, the Patriots should not only go after Watson in a trade but should offer six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick as part of a proposed deal. Here’s what Rueb wrote in a column on Friday:
So how does trading for a starting QB not even at their prime happen?
It would start with draft capital. Like an absurd amount. We’re talking multiple first- and second-round picks over the next few years, the kind of picks where Houston could get Vontae Mack and Ray Jennings and have more than enough to rebuild the franchise the next few years.
That’s a problem for New England because a) it doesn’t have that type of capital, and b)Belichick loves draft capital more than he loves talking lacrosse or left-footed punters. It seems unlikely that he would be willing to mortgage everything for one player, even if that one player is DeShaun Watson.
So what if Bob Kraft solved that issue by trading Belichick?
Rueb wasn’t joking. He was dead serious. He continued with his rationale, which includes an alternate reality where Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft is “fed up” with Belichick and still upset with his 21-year coach about Tom Brady’s departure last offseason.
Sounds crazy? Well, let’s start with the premise that, for once, all the talk radio conspiracy theorists are right — Kraft is fed up with the NFL’s greatest coach of all time after how the Brady breakup went down and he wants to reboot the organization.
While it sounds blasphemous, it sort of makes sense. Kraft’s traded for a head coach, why not trade one away?
As the in-house fighting between Brady and Belichick was being reported, plenty tried to guess what the Patriots could theoretically get if they kept the QB and traded away the HC.
That was a few years ago. Any trade value Belichick has now is only going to drop as he gets older. He’s going to be 69 next season and that leaves him what? Five or six seasons left on the sidelines at most?
From there, Rueb suggested the Patriots would still need to include additional assets if they were to have a prayer of getting the Texans, who as of Tuesday night are now run by long-time Belichick personnel man Nick Caserio, to bite on this deal. There is a lot to unpack here, but let’s first tackle the concept of actually trading a head coach.
Is Trading Bill Belichick Even Possible?
Yes, it is.
In fact, the Patriots originally acquired Belichick in a trade with the New York Jets in January 2000. “The Hoodie” was hired by the Jets to succeed his mentor, Bill Parcells. However, the team had a new ownership group and Belichick didn’t want to work with them. He wrote his resignation on a napkin and stepped down a day after originally accepting the job. Because he was technically under contract with the Jets after agreeing to become their coach, Belichick couldn’t just walk away and coach elsewhere.
Kraft and the Patriots wanted him, so later in the month, Kraft worked out a trade with the Jets that sent Belichick, a fifth and seventh-round pick to New York in exchange for a first, fourth, and seventh-round selection.
While that trade did take place over two decades ago, the chances of it happening again in 2021 are very slim.
Why Trading Belichick Is Completely Asinine
There are a number of factors that make this trade proposal an unrealistic concept.
There is no reason to believe Kraft would turn his back on Belichick at this point. He had his opportunity to stare Belichick down and back Brady, and he didn’t. It’s hard to believe he’d do something so radical as to trade the greatest head coach in the history of football out of spite, or even to build around someone as talented as Watson.
Secondly, there is no guarantee Belichick would accept being traded. He could simply walk away, which would be a real possibility if Kraft attempted to move him. Third, Caserio just got out from under Belichick’s shadow after 20 seasons under his watch, why would he want to bring him to the Texans?
Think about how awkward it would be for Caserio to now be Belichick’s definitive superior with a different organization.
While this scenario is interesting on paper, it’s highly unlikely to play out in the real world. The Patriots are more likely to come up with an actual trade package that features multiple first-round picks than they are to trade their legendary coach.
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