Deshaun Watson joining AFC West would make things tougher for KC Chiefs

If Deshaun Watson joins the AFC West, the KC Chiefs will have an uphill battle.

Rumors have been swirling recently that Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson could request a trade this offseason. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned both the Broncos and Raiders as two intriguing teams to watch if this should happen and if Watson did join either of those teams, winning the AFC West would become much more difficult for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Something to keep in mind here is that this isn’t confirmed yet. Watson might just be doing this as a way to get the Texans to give him more control over the franchise, but still, it’s never good when these kinds of rumors start to circulate.

Who could really blame Watson though? The Texans won just four games this past season and normally would hold the No. 3 pick, but they traded that first-rounder to Miami in 2019. Houston won’t have a draft pick until the third round and Watson sees that he’s about to enter a rebuild. He’s still young and rebuilds can take quite some time, so it’d make sense if Watson did want out.

Deshaun Watson to the AFC West would be the KC Chiefs’ worst nightmare.

Say Watson was traded to either the Broncos or the Raiders. That’d mean the AFC West would have Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert in the division. It’s bad enough that the Chargers hit the jackpot with Herbert, but Watson joining the AFC West would easily make it the best division in the league.

I wrote an article on the best possible trading spots for Watson over on NFL Spin Zone and didn’t list either of those teams. Quite frankly, the Texans would be foolish to consider trading Watson, but if they do decide to ship him elsewhere, sending him to an NFC team is the way to go. The 49ers, Saints, and Bears would be their best options because they’d only have to face him every four years.

But, for the sake of the article, let’s look at the Broncos and Raiders as options. Denver took Drew Lock in the second-round in the 2019 NFL Draft and he’s been underwhelming so far. There has been buzz that the Broncos could already be looking to move on from Lock, but with all of the injuries they had this past year, all of the team’s struggles can’t solely be placed on Lock’s shoulders.

It’s too soon for Denver to give up on Lock, but I could definitely understand wanting to move on from him if it meant getting Watson. Would Watson want to go to Denver though? He’d have a better shot with the other teams I mentioned above who would become instant Super Bowl contenders with him in-house. The Broncos would be better with Watson, but their offensive line needs some fine-tuning.

As for the Raiders, Derek Carr is the oldest quarterback in the AFC West, but he’s only 29 years old. He’s proven he can play well, but the Raiders seem stuck in mediocrity. Quarterback isn’t the problem there, the defense is, and that’s why adding Watson wouldn’t really do much for this team. Jon Gruden would love nothing more though than to have a quarterback who could go blow-for-blow with Mahomes, so don’t be shocked if the Raiders were to throw all of their cards on the table.

Hopefully, Watson leaves the AFC and goes to a team the Chiefs won’t have to play very often. I’m really hoping he doesn’t get traded to an AFC West squad though because that’d make winning the AFC West a very tough task, even for the Kansas City Chiefs.