Whether one believes Deshaun Watson that the Chicago Bears never talked to him during the draft process, or they did, the fact is the Houston Texans were dealt an opportunity to get out of Quarterback Hell in the 2017 NFL Draft.
The Bears took Mitch Trubisky with the second overall pick out of North Carolina. That left Watson available at 12th overall, though it took giving up their first-rounder in 2017 and 2018 to get the franchise quarterback.
If the Bears had taken Watson, the Texans’ quarterback situation would have been far better than it is now or far worse.
There is no question the Texans were going to be players in the first round. Early in the offseason, Houston traded Brock Osweiler, their starting quarterback from 2016, who they signed to a four-year, $72 million deal, to the Cleveland Browns to offset his salary cap hit and start over. The Texans’ quarterbacks going into the draft were Tom Savage and T.J. Yates — hardly anybody a team could compete with.
If Chicago had taken Watson at No. 2 overall, that would have left Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes on the board. The Kansas City Chiefs ended up jumping the Texans by two picks in a deal with the Buffalo Bills to take Mahomes. Kansas City gave up their first and third from 2017 and a first-rounder from 2018 to get to 10th overall. Maybe with Watson off the board, Houston gives up more and they take Mahomes. Objectively, that would have been better than what the Texans have now, but only because Mahomes earned NFL MVP in 2018 and Super Bowl MVP at the end of the 2019 season.
If Kansas City jumped the Texans and still got Mahomes, then the Texans would have been left with Trubisky. If they didn’t want him in the first round, there was always DeShone Kizer, Davis Webb, C.J. Beathard, Joshua Dobbs, Nathan Peterman, Brad Kaaya, and Chad Kelly. In other words, the pickings were slim to truly upgrade Houston’s quarterback situation.
For the Texans, it is a good thing the Bears decided to make their selection and keep Sid Luckman’s legacy safe.
