Deshaun Watson seems interested in talk of Antonio Brown to the Texans

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Receiver Antonio Brown continues to be linked to plenty of teams but employed by none of them. At a time when the team that could be the most interested in Brown (the Seahawks) has yet to make a move, another possibility could be emerging.

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has responded to a Thursday tweet from former NFL receiver Chad Johnson suggesting Brown to Houston by posting a meme of Drake with the window down in his limo, which per the cool kids in the class means Watson is interested.

Whether coach/G.M. Bill O’Brien is interested becomes a different question. Although the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals, Houston traded for Brandin Cooks — and they also have Will Fuller and Kenny Stills.

Still, Brown is considered to be one of the top receivers in the game, even if he’s not in the game. The biggest impediment to Brown being in the game are three different off-field issues for which the league is still investigating him. As explained during Thursday’s #PFTPM (clip embedded), the league has taken too long to resolve the situation arising from last September’s lawsuit filed against Brown. Whatever the final decision on that and other issues (including his recent no-contest plea to felony charges arising from an altercation with the driver of a moving truck), Brown should get credit for 14 games of de facto unpaid suspension in 2019, when the possibility that Brown would be placed on the Commissioner Exempt list kept interested teams from employing Brown.

None of that matters, however, because the NFL controls the timeline and the outcome. Until the league rules on his status, teams likely will continue to wait — unless and until a team decides to force the league’s hand, like the Saints seemed to be interested in doing late last season.