"Exhaust any option to do it" - Stephen A. Smith begs Steelers to make a move for Deshaun Watson
After news broke that watson-play-again-nfl-texans-qb-agent-provides-latest-update" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">Deshaun Watson was free of criminal charges, teams across the league mobilized to get a shot at the quarterback. Stephen A. Smith took to Twitter to beg the Steelers to make the acquisition happen. Essentially, Smith declared himself open to any price to get the quarterback.
Yo @steelers. If there is a way — anyway damnit — to get your hands on @deshaunwatson, could you exhaust every option to do this. Please! Please! Please! With Sugar on top. Pretty please. Yes! I’m begging!!!
Here are the specific words in the Tweet:
"Yo @steelers. If there is a way — anyway damnit — to get your hands on @deshaunwatson, could you exhaust every option to do this. Please! Please! Please! With Sugar on top. Pretty please. Yes! I’m begging!!!"
Of course, those who have seen the show host on First Take can't help but read the words in his voice. However, Steelers fans all likely take this stance with the Texans quarterback. Just days after the Broncos closed the deal to get Russell Wilson, it seems like any franchise could be saved by adding Watson.
Why the Pittsburgh Steelers would add Deshaun Watson
Assuming Watson returns in similar shape to what he was in 2020, the Steelers could have expectations to surpass the final few years of the Ben Roethlisberger era. For most of Roethlisberger's time in Pittsburgh, the quarterback was mostly in the 20s in terms of touchdown passes.
Hilarious! Just Hilarious twitter.com/firsttake/stat…
His best regular-season performance came in 2018, when the quarterback threw for 34 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, per Pro Football Reference. In comparison, Watson threw for 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
With Roethlisberger now retired, the Steelers are heading into the dark unknown. Teams routinely struggle to find a quarterback for years after losing a franchise player. Stephen A. Smith knows this. He also knows that, by landing the Texans' quarterback, his team could be sidestepping potential decades of instability at the position.
At 26 years old, the quarterback could play for another 15 years. Most would say he is a bonafide franchise quarterback. Despite finishing 4-12 in 2020, the quarterback has youth, a good body of work, and playoff experience that could take his next team places.
He's played in three playoff games. He played one in 2018 that he lost. He won a playoff game in 2019 before losing the second. As such, he has enough experience in the playoffs that the moment will not be too big for him all the way to the Super Bowl.
Considering the above-average roster the Steelers are touting, the team could make a run with the former Texans quarterback. In an era in which the Buccaneers won a Super Bowl in their first year with Tom Brady and the Los Angeles Rams won a Super Bowl in their first year with Matthew Stafford, adding No. 4 could push the Steelers to the next level.