Louis Riddick Has Some Common Sense for the Houston Texans

All indications are that Deshaun Watson would like to get away from the situation in Houston, as would any normal person when they see a Rasputin-type figure rise to prominence and exert a toxic brand of mysticism on the franchise. The Texans will either have to trade him or watch him sit out in protest, which is actually a situation ripe to get uglier with more stubbornness.

Everyone assumes Watson has the leverage here, but if Houston wants to play hardball, they can effectively hold his career hostage for eight years out of spite. The consequences of doing that, of course, are dire and would sink the organization into perpetuity. On the other hand, it is the Texans and everyone seems to hate them already, so how much goodwill is there to lose in reality?

To this point, the franchise has been adamant that they aren't going to trade Watson this season. Get Up dove into the current state of things this morning, and Louis Riddick had some strong thoughts about what a season with the quarterback sitting on the sidelines would mean for all parties.

Riddick's sensible take? Start thinking about rebuilding from the self-inflicted damage and stop actively making it worse.

This feels like the smartest way forward, potentially the only way forward. But an obvious answer hasn't been so obvious to Houston for quite some time now, so your guess is as good as any in terms of if bait gets cut or eaten or set on fire. Really, everything seems in play at this point.