Will Deshaun Watson have to hold out into 2021 season?

The Houston Texans have yet to indicate that they are entertaining offers for Deshaun Watson. If Watson is adamant about never playing for the team again, he may have to consider sitting out games in 2021.

One executive from an AFC team told ESPN’s Josina Anderson on Saturday that the Texans have shown no inclination to trade Watson. The executive speculated that Watson may need to sit out the 2021 season if he is serious about leaving Houston.

Meanwhile, interesting to hear personal opinions* around the league. AFC exec just now on Deshaun Watson: "It'll be hard for me to see them letting the QB outta there. It's a shame they allowed it to get this bad. Looks like Watson is serious. He may have to holdout all of 2021."

— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 30, 2021

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted recently, the Texans can fine Watson nearly $100,000 if he misses minicamp. He can then be fined $50,000 for each day of training camp he misses and $620,000 per game when the preseason begins. Watson could threaten to retire, and the Texans would recoup more than $20 million if he went that route.

It seems unlikely that the Texans would allow the situation to get that ugly. They are still trying to smooth things over with Watson, and GM Nick Caserio said this week that there are no plans to trade the star quarterback.

Despite all that, Watson found a new way to express his discontent on social media this week. The standoff could last several more months, but Watson should get his wish eventually.