Should Patriots still be eyeing Deshaun Watson trade after slew of troubling allegations?

The New England Patriots normally go bargain shopping in free agency, but that simply wasn’t an option after they endured their worst season in two decades.

However, we’re not so sure anybody expected them to dish out close to $300 million within the first week of proceedings.

When it comes to the offense, GM Bill Belichick has clearly emphasized putting Cam Newton in the best position to succeed.

The squad signed tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, as well as wideouts Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne to shore up the receiving corps.

Going on that significant of a spending spree indicates that Newton will be the starter next season, but the Patriots happen to have the requisite cap space to absorb Deshaun Watson’s contract should they make a late push for him.

However, in light of the troubling sexual misconduct allegations being made against Watson, it’s worth pondering if the Patriots should dampen their supposed interest, if that’s even at all on their radar.

The Patriots should probably scale back their reported interest in pursuing a trade for Deshaun Watson.

If you asked us at the start of the week, we obviously would’ve been in favor of the Patriots going all-out in their pursuit of Watson. After all, the initial allegation seemed odd after it came from the Instagram account of high-profile lawyer Tony Buzbee. Nobody knew what to think when that first one reached the public.

However, more women accused Watson of sexual misconduct on Thursday, bringing the total number of accusers to seven, and Buzbee says more are coming. Regardless of Watson’s sterling reputation and philanthropic tendencies, it would be an egregious look for the Patriots to make a concerted effort to make him their quarterback of the future right now.

In other words, the Pats must wait for these lawsuits to be resolved (at the very least!) before they make any notable push for Watson. It’s possible the cases drag on beyond the 2021 draft, which would really derail any chance they have of trading for the three-time Pro Bowler this offseason. But if that’s the case, then so be it.

We know Belichick and the Patriots like to exploit advantageous situations, but pursuing Watson amid this wave of troubling allegations, with more potentially to come to light over the next few days, would be an incredibly reckless endeavor.

That isn’t to say Belichick is overly concerned with how he’s perceived in the eyes of the public, but this many sexual misconduct/assault allegations is beyond alarming, especially with how prevalent this topic is in the world of sports today.

We’d love nothing more than to see Watson on the Patriots’ new-look roster, but they have no other choice to but to wait for his name to be cleared in some fashion before they can even consider making a move for him without being eviscerated by the media.