It appears Deshaun Watson has played his final snap for the Houston Texans. The 25-year-old quarterback has reportedly requested a trade, this after seeing his franchise make one curious move after another over the last year.

It remains to be seen where Watson will land, but former Bills general manager Doug Whaley can’t believe the Texans alienated Watson to this degree.

“The hardest part of football is finding that quarterback,” Whaley said on Tiki & Tierney. “You have a proven quarterback that can take you to where you want to go. That is it. Football is an easy game. The hardest part of football is trying to find that quarterback – and you have it.”

Despite losing DeAndre Hopkins to a lopsided trade before the season – and losing head coach Bill O’Brien during the season – Watson was superb in 2020. He completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 444 yards and three scores.

If the Texans have to replace that production, well, good luck. Watson figures to command a haul of draft picks, but those are, of course, no guarantee.

“You’re still rolling the dice,” Whaley said. “The hit rate on quarterbacks in the first round is 50 percent. You have the guy, you got to do everything [to keep him]. This is a complete failure on the Houston organization. Everybody is looking for something like this, and to have a guy with his talent asking to be let go, you really have to point the finger at management.”