Deshaun Watson criminal case: Grand jury gives verdict on accusations against QB

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is a free man. According to Ari Meirov of Pro Football Focus, the 26-year-old quarterback will not face criminal chargers after the grand jury found that there was not enough to charge him on nine accusations of sexual misconduct.

The accusations leveled at the quarterback forced him to miss the entire 2021 NFL season as he did not want to play for the Texans again and other teams were reluctant to trade for him with the potential criminal charges still hanging over his head.

The 26-year-old was accused of sexual misconduct and sexual assault in 22 civil lawsuits and 10 criminal complaints of sexual assault. With the quarterback now not facing criminal charges, he could be free to find a new NFL team after becoming disgruntled with the Texans organization.

Meirov tweeted that the 26-year-old still faces civil complaints and that the league could still get involved. With the news that the quarterback will not face any criminal charges, NFL teams will now be ramping up their efforts to try and sign the star quarterback.

What teams could be in for Watson?

Several teams were interested in his services this time last season with Miami thought to be the major player in the Watson sweepstakes. However, the organization has since focused on building a competent roster around Tua Tagovailoa and are going with him for the foreseeable future. So where does that leave the 26-year-old?

Well, according to NFL insider Daniel Jeremiah, who spoke on the Move The Sticks podcast with Bucky Brooks, the Seattle Seahawks could be the destination for Watson when everything is all said and done.

Jeremiah also stated that there were legal hurdles that still existed and that those would need to be resolved. Well, now that some of them are in the rearview mirror, that could speed things up for both the Texans and the Seahawks to get a deal done.

Having lost Russell Wilson to Denver, Seattle is on the lookout for a new quarterback and will likely look to move very quickly if they see the Texans quarterback as part of their future.

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The 26-year-old being out of the game for the best part of a year. But now that he will not be facing criminal charges, he can perhaps focus on football. Whether that be with Seattle or another team is not yet known. But Deshaun Watson looks set to make his return to the NFL in 2022.