Deshaun Watson could lose more than his salary as he mulls sitting out of Texans games

Deshaun Watson has long demanded a trade away from the Houston Texans and if reports are to be believed, the quarterback could go to any lengths to make it happen. The 25-year-old's disgruntlement has dominated headlines in the NFL offseason, and despite many teams expressing interest, the Texans hold firm that they won't trade their star man. The saga has reached a point that Watson could opt out of games for the franchise in the upcoming season, a decision that could literally prove costly. 

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Deshaun Watson salary: How much will the Texans star lose if he sits out of games? 

According to the NFL rumour mill, Deshaun Watson has no interest in playing for the Houston Texans again and will sit out of pre-season games and regular-season matchups if required. Despite his stance, the franchise remains adamant in not letting their star quarterback go, who signed a contract extension in September. According to NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk, the 25-year-old stands to lose more than $20 million if he boycotts the entire 2021 season. 

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If the upcoming season has a minicamp for the 2021 season and Watson duly gives it a miss, then the quarterback will be fined $93,085 for the same. If he proceeds to miss spring training, he’d be fined $50,000 per day. The camps are 40 days long generally, with six off days, which means that the Texans star will be fined a total of $1.7 million. Watson will also be fined the amount of a regular-season game check for each preseason game he misses. At a base salary of $10.54 million, that’s $620,000 per game. If, as expected, the 2021 NFL season has three preseason games, the Texans star stands to lose another $1.86 million. Thus Watson would incur $3.653 million in fines if he doesn’t show up for the training camp or pre-season. 

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If Watson gives the entire NFL season a miss, he’d lose another $11.16 million in base salary. The boycott would also allow the Texans to recover Watson’s signing-bonus allocation for 2021. Waston will thus have to return $5.4 million he'd receive this season. Missing the season will also have ramifications on the Deshaun Watson contract. If the quarterback returns in 2022, Watson's base salary would remain $10.54 million, while currently it is projected at $35 million. So an accumulation fo $20 million in fines, while a $24 million knockdown in his contract value awaits the disgruntled Texans quarterback if he decides to sit out for the season. 

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