Clayton: Deshaun Watson isn’t a viable option for the Broncos

There is no question that the Broncos have Aaron Rodgers on their minds in a future trade. There is no question Rodgers prefers to leave the Packers and go to the Broncos.

His finance, Shailene Woodley, lives in the Boulder. Even if a trade doesn’t happen until October, getting Rodgers makes sense. The Packers don’t want to trade him, but Rodgers has indicated he no longer has the desire to be in Green Bay.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler put out an interesting story on Sunday. Fowler reported that the Texans are slowly moving away from keeping Deshaun Watson.

Houston used their first pick in this year’s draft on Stanford quarterback Davis Mills. He was a third-round choice. The Texans also have Tyrod Tayler. They don’t know what they have in Watson, who doesn’t want to play for the Texans and has 22 sexual assault lawsuits against him.

Should Watson be an option in a trade for the Broncos? His legal situation makes it questionable. There is no doubt Rodgers would be a cleaner fit than Watson.

No one knows if Watson will go on the exempt list or what the NFL will rule against him for these incidents. It doesn’t appear that the Houston police will do anything in the Watson cases.

The Panthers would have paid the most to get Watson. He’s considered the fifth-best quarterback in the league and he’s young. He on a $39 million per year contract.

Originally, the Texans wouldn’t listen to any trade conversations about their QB. Fowler, hearing from people around the NFL, says that’s changing.

What the Texans haven’t done lately is say much about Watson. The fact they drafted a quarterback says a little bit about the questions the Texans have.

The trade value for Watson clearly has come down. Rodgers will be costly, but he remains the better option, particularly knowing Denver is his city of preference.