The Broncos Country remain on the edge of their seats, waiting for the Houston Texans to finally accept and make the disgruntled defender Deshaun Watson commercially available. At the moment, the new GM Nick Caserio from Houston has firmly maintained his position that the Texans are not interested in trading Watson, even if this means that the veteran QB continues to threaten to leave the 2021 season.
But it didn’t stop Vegas from betting on Watson’s next NFL destination. FanDuel recently installed the Broncos with the best odds on the Pro Bowler’s three-time landing.
In the meantime, what does all this media and fan speculation mean for Drew Lock, combined with the obvious involvement of the new Denver Broncos GM George Paton in the QB commercial market? Lock came out of a second season in which he started 13 games going 4-9, while completing 57.3% of his unusual passes on the way to the league’s pace in interceptions (equal to Carson Wentz at 15).
For what it’s worth, although Lock threw a lot of choices, his TD-to-INT ratio was still plus-1 at 16 to 15. He finished the season with 2,933 passing yards and brought three more touchdowns. Lock accounted for 19 total touchdowns, while also being responsible for three smoke losses, bringing a TD-to-Giveaway ratio to 19-to-18 – another plus-1.
Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons looked at Watson vs. Lock last week during a live Twitch stream in which he asked questions from his audience.
“We just need to see what happens, man,” Simmons said. “I like Drew … I think if someone adds someone like Deshaun Watson, you’re automatically a competitor, aren’t you?[ational]- It’s an amazing talent. That being said, I love Drew too and I think he will be great as the years go by. “
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Lock was put in a difficult situation. It’s hard enough to hear, see, read all the speculation in the media and fans, no doubt, but he also saw several teammates pleading vocally and / or openly recruiting Watson in Denver.
If Lock has the courage in the NFL, he will give up all annoyance and negativity like water on the back of a duck. If not equal to his opportunity as an NFL QB, it could be an albatross around his neck that pulls him down (enough with bird metaphors).
Only time will tell. For now, however, Watson Watch remains unchanged. Houston kept its unwanted position, while Lock generated a bit of a buzz because he stayed in Denver at Broncos headquarters and worked hard to attack off-season early.
The new league year opens on March 17, when the free agent bell will ring, although the legal period of manipulation opens two days before. Simmons’ fate could be decided by then if the Broncos are negotiating a long-term extension ahead of time or the franchise will mark him for the second year in a row.
With the exception of one of these possibilities, Simmons will reach the open waters of an unrestricted free agency and will be able to negotiate with external teams starting March 15. If this happens, the probability of Broncos re-signing it will be reduced to zero.
As for the QB situation, there could be additional context for the future Broncos soon, even if Watson Watch remains unchanged, if Paton signs a veteran free agent like Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Ryan Fitzpatrick or Cam Newton. This seems most likely a course, given the king’s ransom, Houston will ask if it overturns and conforms to Watson’s requirements.
If Paton is referring to “design and development” and storage of circulation collections, as he grew philosophically during his hello-presser in January, running it with Lock for another year and keeping all those options to fill the open holes of The Denver list, while hoping that years back in Pat Shurmur’s offensive system will pay dividends for Lock, seems to be the most likely course of action.