Colin Cowherd Says It’s Time For Texans To Toss In The Towel And Trade J.J. Watt To One Of Four Teams

Colin Cowherd explains why it's time for the Hosuton Texans to trade J.J. Watt right now

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There’s a line towards the beginning of my all-time favorite movie, Happy Gilmore, where Happy’s girlfriend walks out on him and says this: “You’re going nowhere, Happy, and you’re draggin’ me with you.” It’s blunt and it’s raw. In many ways, it was something that longtime radio personality Colin Cowherd would say, with the candid FS1 host always giving the hottest of takes.

So what’s all this have to do with J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans? In many ways, that line from Happy Gilmore has to be how the three-time Defensive Player of the Year has to feel right now as his team sits at 0-4 and is left with an interim head coach after firing Bill O’Brien earlier this week.

It’s being reported that Watt’s relationship with O’Brien was contentious, with the Pro Bowler tweeting out the above cryptic message the day after his now former head coach was kicked to the curb. Then reports surfaced that J.J. even got into it with O’Brien and openly questioned his coaching ability — which, if true, goes to show the coach lost his locker room.

Given all that’s happened with the Texans this season alone and the struggles that don’t seem to be going away, Colin Cowherd gave a very blunt message: It’s time to trade Watt and salvage something for the 31-year-old while he’s still a hot commodity.

Thanks to O’Brien, who was also the Texans’ general manager and made some preposterous deals, the team doesn’t have a first or second round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. That isn’t a big deal for a consistent winning team like, say, the New England Patriots, but when it’s a team like the Texans — which never made it beyond the Divisional Round in the postseason under O’Brien — it’s a major problem.

Talking on his show on Thursday, Colin Cowherd gave some legit reasons why Houston needs to start the rebuilding process now and move on from Watt, no matter how hard it might be, and even offers up four teams worth contacting to get a deal done.

“The Texans have no draft picks left and they have no cap space,” he said this week.

“What they have to do, and this is really uncomfortable for them, is to trade JJ Watt. There is four really good teams in the NFL like Seattle and Baltimore who need a pass rush… If you don’t have draft picks and you don’t have cap space going forward you can get both moving one player.

“He’s perfect for Seattle, he’s perfect for Baltimore, and the Niners could use him too. You’re already paying your quarterback a fortune. You can’t tell me there’s not a market for JJ Watt. He feels like a Patriot. I can already picture him in a Patriots uniform. He feels like he would be a great fit for the Ravens or the Seahawks.”

For all the outrageous things that Colin Cowherd has said over the years, this is actually one of his most sensible suggestions. Sure, he immediately goes for the usual suspects in terms of which teams the Texans might want to contact to get a trade done with, but seeing as how Houston has a problem (and it has nothing to do with a space shuttle), the FS1 host sees Watt as the most talented asset to hit restart on the franchise.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson is signed long-term, but, other than him, who are the Texans building around? There’s not much left in the cupboard for whoever the next head coach and/or GM is, so Cowherd’s spot on about the team putting Watt on the trade block. Now it’s up to them to find the right deal and start the rebuild.

(H/T Total Pro Sports)