They could have hired Vince Lombardi.

They could have hired anyone you want.

They could've hired Eddie Robinson.

DeShaun Watson was going to hold fast to his idea to request that trade.

And I don't think it's a reflection in any way, shape or form about the new general manager, Nick Osario the new head coach.

David Cully.

This is about the owner, Cal McNair.

This is about the organization and the way it has been run.

This is about to Shawn Watson putting down his foot and taking a page out of the NBA playbook that has increasingly become a part of the NFL playbook that we've seen.

Players like Khalil Mack and Jalen Ramsey basically tell teams I'm not gonna play for you anymore, and we saw it back in the day with Carson Palmer in Cincinnati.

It didn't get quite as much attention then as it does now, but here's a player a transcendent talent in the prime of his career who is dug in, and the Texans don't want to trade them and say they're not going to trade him, and that's fine.

They're gonna have a problem on their hands moving forward.

And I would think in the end it's a battle they can't win.

So eventually you would think that they'll come to the recognition, the realization that it's best to move on, get whatever you can in return, maximize the return and turn the page because the Shawn Watson saying goodbye to the organization and you can't boil down any other way then but to say Houston has a problem.

Adam Schefter.

Could you provide specifics to the best of your ability?

Because there's nobody that I would trust more with this when we talk about him having an issue with the organization, the things that they've done specifically, what is it that has transpired that has gotten to Shawn Watson to this point?

What exactly did they do or did not do?

I think there are probably many things Stephen A.

I'll allude to some of them and I'm probably not scratching the surface.

If we're gonna be fully frank about it, I can go back to the fact that last year they traded DeAndre Hopkins and I think he found out about it on social media.

We can go back to this upcoming season where they went to him.

They went to him and asked his advice and guidance on the direction that he thought they should go for a new head coach and general manager.

It went so far as him going out to dinner with Cal McNair, the team's owner, and then the Texans hire a search firm, Korn Ferry, that they pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to and in the end, fire that firm and turn around and lean on Jack Easterby to make a decision that doesn't take into consideration anything that DeShaun Watson said.

So they went to him for his advice and then didn't use it.

In the decision to hire Nick Osario from the New England Patriots.

Nick Osario, who's waited an awful long time for a general manager job, takes this job and steps into a situation where he has no idea that his quarterback is about to ask for a trade, which he does.

And so let me say this also, what does Shawn Watson feels is not exclusive to him in that organization?

I can tell you having spoken to many people in that organization, there are similar gripes, similar unhappiness, Nick Osario when he stepped in there.

I think it's fair to say, stepped into a burning building.

And that building has caught fire, even Mawr.

And when you've got the face of your franchise, one of the transcendent talents not just in football but in all of sports, refusing to play for that team anymore and wanting to be traded.

That tells you what a problem there is.

Adam.

I think most people would agree that given to Sean Watson's reputation if there's a problem with Shawn Watson, people aren't looking at him there looking at the organization, and generally this stuff comes out of dysfunction.

So I understand the answer is really both.

But if I had to ask you, Is it Mawr?

What would you answer?

Is it Mawr?

The idea that he was disrespected and the way this was handled was distasteful to him?

Or was it Mawr a competitive interest?

In other words, the Texans had a very bad record after making a very stupid trade.

What do you think is motivating the behavior more between the two?

It's a combination of everything, Max.

I think that he watches the way that his career has gone.

Didn't one of the cameras capture J.

J.

Watt going over to the Shawn Watson it into the season and apologizing for wasting his talents and wasting his season.

And I think that that's a mood.

I could tell you.

There are Texans players or former Texans players on other teams who have reached out who have scoffed at some of the things that they experienced or noticed or saw in that organization.

And I think that Cal McNair has allowed things to happen here.

That shouldn't happen in the opinion of players and people who are in that organization.

And it is basically filtered down to his quarterback, who feels the same way that many other people dio.

And so there's a cleansing that needs to take place here.

And unfortunately for the Texans, it's gonna be too late to do that with the Shawn.

Watson.

Is your quarterback, in my opinion, because let's play this out.

Let's say the Houston Texans say Decision.

We know you want to trade.

We're not going to trade you.

Well, then he doesn't show up.

And are they going to go draft another quarterback?

Are they going to go sign another quarterback?

They have to make some sort of plan a quarterback.

But if the Sean Watson's dug in and refuses to report, they're stuck, and it certainly sounds like that's at the spot that he is now.

They can call chicken and challenge him, saying, We're not going to trade you.

You're too good.

Where's that gonna go?

What's gonna happen then?

And so again, I come back this I think of this all the time.

You're Nick osario you with the New England Patriots.

You've been requested to interview for any number of general manager jobs, and you just took the one that was the booby price.

You just took the one with the house on fire.

You just took the one where you were stepping into a situation.

I don't think you had any idea that you were stepping into thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.