This has been discussed several times. I hope the Texans sue his ass over the signing bonus (not the base salary of sitting out last year) and ask the NFL for the cap space back. Here is the timeline:
September 2020: while Deshaun was in the 4th year of his rookie deal and AFTER Bill OBrien had already traded away Hopkins and sold the farm for Tunsil, Watson agreed to a 4 year, $160M extension that would kick in in 2022. The signing bonus portion was $27M which he received immediately in 2020. He insists on a no trade clause, which Houston gives him.
Sometime in late 2020, early 2021: Breaks NFL covid protocols, possible federal interstate prostitution laws, and human decency by starting massage + forced handjob/blowjob scheme.
January 2021: After team fires BOB and just 4 months after signing extension, he demands trades through indirect parties and starts communicating via tweeting Future lyrics.
(Radio/social media talk and rumors): Watson said he was pissed Houston didn’t hire his choices for GM and HC. Houston hires David Culley out of nowhere to be a player friendly and African American coach. This doesn’t move the needle for Watson.
March 2021: New GM Caserio said he wouldn’t trade Watson, but before any deals could be worked the masseuse handjob scandal breaks, just a couple weeks before the 2021 Draft.
2021 Season: Caserio and the world assume Watson would likely be suspended if they plan to play him, which could further hurt his trade value. He could also get hurt. He could also suck, while 2020 had been a monster stat season. They agreed to let him sit with pay until things got worked out. Supposedly they had good trades in place with Miami and Carolina, but Watson vetoed Carolina and wouldn’t settle his civil lawsuits, which Miami owner required prior to trade. This was the 5th year of Watson’s rookie contract. March 2021: Harris Co. grand jury does not indict. Multiple teams offer trade packages to Houston. Watson vetoes Carolina again (alleged best return for Houston) and picks Atlanta (also good draft and player return for Houston). In the middle of the night, Watson’s agent calls Cleveland on a hail mary to ask for the moon, and he gets it. They will trade for him, give him $230M fully guaranteed, structure his contract with $1M base in 2022 to minimize impact of suspension, and protect contract regardless of punishment on current or still undisclosed massage handjob cases.
Instead of getting a top 8 pick in 2022, two more picks from a shitty team (ATL or CAR), and a decent player or two, Houston got #13 in 2022 and Cleveland’s next two firsts that will probably be in the mid 20’s. Also, Houston paid Watson $27M signing bonus on a contract he said he would not honor when he requested a trade and never played a down on. His extension with Houston was torn up and replaced with his new Cleveland contract. In 2021, Watson made $10.5M to sit as well but that was a mutual decision. Houston lost $38.5M in cap space over this horse shit.