Tim Benz: Tying Deshaun Watson to Steelers feels like QB's camp trying to speak a hope into existence
Former NFL quarterback Shaun King explained his tweet from Wednesday that suggested if Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson receives a favorable outcome in his legal battle Friday, he’d likely be heading to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hearing if things go well friday Deshaun Watson to the steelers is happening soon after... @VSiNLive @1TimMurray @TheAOster @Bill80 @mlombardiNFL
— shaun king (@realshaunking) March 9, 2022
King is now a show host on VSiN’s “The Night Cap.”
Some outlets quickly refuted the report. But King stood by it on his show Wednesday evening.
#ICYMI on #TheNightCap @1TimMurray and @realshaunking discuss the twitter firestorm Shaun started with Deshaun Watson News pic.twitter.com/qUaZjs79V0
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) March 10, 2022
“The ‘Bat phone’ and the ‘Bat email,’ I woke up this morning and had messages on both, that the interest is mutual,” King said. “Deshaun Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract. But Pittsburgh is his desired destination if he can find clarity with his legal situation. … From a draft asset standpoint, Pittsburgh will have to get creative. The player or players they can send back are far more impactful and significant than what Denver sent to Seattle, which lessens the need for the amount of draft assets that Seattle was able to acquire for Russell Wilson.
“This starts with Friday, if things go well and we find some clarity. And I was told that soon thereafter there could be an announcement that Deshaun Watson will be the next quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
What King means by “going well” on Friday is unclear. That could be complex. Watson is scheduled to have a deposition in the sexual misconduct civil lawsuits brought against him. The quarterback’s legal camp is expecting him to plead the Fifth in testimony.
Simultaneously, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office is presenting evidence to a Houston grand jury in Watson’s criminal investigation.
So how “well” and in which case? King didn’t elaborate.
Part of the reason King’s report took wing is that he overlapped with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin in Tampa Bay (from 2001-03) when Tomlin was the defensive backs coach. He also did a coaching internship with the Steelers in 2016.
I spoke with King for the “Breakfast with Benz” podcast. He insisted that he had multiple sources giving him this information. However, he wouldn’t specify if those people were coming from Watson’s side or the organization’s side.
Even if King and Tomlin have a friendly relationship, my guess would still be that this is coming from Watson’s camp and Tomlin would be highly reluctant (on the record, or off) to say anything at all about any prospective quarterback for the organization, let alone this one.
Much like the Aaron Rodgers connection to the Steelers from last week, this is likely an agent, representative or friend of the player trying to speak a hope into existence.
In the podcast, King also underscored his assertion that the Steelers would attempt to acquire Watson and lean on trading at least one notable player to get the deal done, as opposed to throwing lots of draft picks at the Texans. He also stood by his statement that Watson is interested in the Steelers and that the franchise wants to acquire the QB if the legal results are in favor of Watson.
“He wants to come back and go to an organization that can immediately be competitive,” King continued. “And I know that Pittsburgh is a desirable location for him.”
I couldn’t find anyone connected with the Steelers to tell me that the team has any interest in Watson. And, given the nature of the allegations facing Watson, the potential blowback of being tied to him, let alone actually trading for him, are such that the Steelers may not even consider bringing him on board.
Perhaps this is a test balloon from Watson’s camp so the franchise could see how such an idea would go over in Pittsburgh. In terms of feedback he’s received since Wednesday, King estimates that he’s received a “70%-30%” split from Steelers fans in favor of those who “just want a great quarterback in Pittsburgh.” The others, King said, “seemed appalled” at the idea.
In my opinion, there’s a difference between keeping Ben Roethlisberger when he was already on the team while he was facing allegations of sexual misconduct over a decade ago versus the notion of actively acquiring Watson from another club. That’s also to say nothing of the extent of legal proceedings in Watson’s case and the multitude of accusers versus Roethlisberger’s circumstances in 2009 and 2010.
King stood by his report again when we spoke, though. “If there becomes clarity with this situation, then there is a high probability, possibility, likelihood that Pittsburgh is the landing spot.”
Meanwhile, there was a report from Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson that Seattle may be exploring trade possibilities for Watson now that Russell Wilson has been dealt to Denver.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.