Joe Banner Identifies Eagles as 'Most Likely Landing Spot' for Deshaun Watson

The ex-Eagles president believes Watson will agree to play in Philadelphia and the organization will make a move if legal hurdles are cleared

Joe Banner isn’t Jeffrey Lurie’s right-hand man any longer but few understand the Eagles’ owner better than the organization’s former president and Banner believes Philadelphia is the “most likely landing spot” for embattled but ultra-talented quarterback Deshaun Watson.

A childhood friend of Lurie, Banner spent nearly two decades as one of Lurie’s top advisors with the Eagles before leaving to become CEO of the Cleveland Browns.

These days, Banner has dipped his toes into the media side of things with a football think tank he founded with former Jets executive Mike Tannenbaum: The33rdTeam.com.

Banner gave an interesting look behind the curtain when it comes to Lurie's decision-making and the Eagles’ perceived interest in Watson, who is still facing potential criminal charges stemming from alleged sexual misconduct along with 22 civil suits from women accusing the star QB of disturbing behavior during massage sessions.

First, Banner went back to the Eagles’ controversial decision to sign Michael Vick in 2009 after the former No. 1 overall pick served federal prison time for animal cruelty.

“In 2009, we signed Michael Vick after he was incarcerated for 21 months and suspended by the league,” Banner wrote. “Prior to doing so, we had two criteria that needed to happen for us to be open to making a deal with Vick: First, he needed to have paid for crimes, which he did through serving time in federal prison and being suspended by the league. Second, we had to be confident that he would not commit future crimes or re-offend.

“We signed Vick because after speaking to him and numerous other people, we were comfortable that he had paid for his crimes, and we were confident that he would not be involved in further inappropriate behavior.”

The former exec noted there is much more uncertainty with Watson.

“Deshaun Watson’s situation is different from Vick’s,” Banner noted. “Watson has not faced any real retribution for what he did. Though he sat out all of the 2021 season, he was paid $10.54M by the Texans.”

Banner also addressed the public relations hurdles that any team that trades for Watson would be inviting.

“To be clear, the accusations against Watson are repugnant,” he explained. “From an ethical standpoint and based on team culture, I would have serious reservations about acquiring Watson if I were running a team today. If guilty, no team in the NFL should engage in discussions to acquire him. And without confidence in the criminal charges being resolved, I would not trade for him. But because I lack information, I am not sure how I would proceed.”

Banner placed four caveats on a potential run toward Watson.

-Jail has to be off the table.

-The team must feel confident that he didn’t do what he is accused of or they need reason to be positive it won’t happen again.

-The team has to be able to deal with the financial implications.

-The team has to be able to deal with the PR implications of acquiring him.

Banner called a number of teams "unlikely suitors" of Watson: Indianapolis, Washington, the NY Giants, Miami (the team Watson would like to play for but has taken itself out of the mix publicly), Tampa Bay, Denver, Minnesota, Cleveland and an unlikely 180 by Houston.

That left two “real possibilities” in Carolina and the Eagles with Banner labeling his old team “the most likely landing spot for Watson” due to its draft capital and Lurie’s history.

“The Eagles are clearly a team that recognizes if you’re going to win big, you need to have a great quarterback,” Banner wrote. “They selected Donovan McNabb with the second pick in 1999. They signed Michael Vick. They traded and later re-signed Carson Wentz. They even took Jalen Hurts with a second-round pick. Their team-building philosophy fits. There are teams that will do whatever it takes to get a great QB, and there are others that will not acquiesce if the QB costs too much. The Eagles fall into the former category. They will be aggressive.”

As for Watson’s prior refusal to waive his no-trade clause for Philadelphia, Banner also addressed that.

“By the time Watson realizes how few options he actually has given the circumstances, he will think of Philly as more desirable than he thought a year ago,” Banner explained.

The Eagles have already done significant due diligence on the Watson situation, sending their own investigator down to South Texas and discussing matters with Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin, according to multiple NFL sources.

Hardin, meanwhile, said any potential criminal indictment will be decided on by early April in a recent court hearing.

Both Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni have publicly supported their current QB Jalen Hurts on multiple occasions but unlike the Dolphins the Eagles' brass has never flat-out dismissed the possibility of trading for Watson and many around the league believe that is purposeful.

 -John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.