Latest Deshaun Watson rumor signals doom for Chicago Bears

The 2022 NFL offseason figures to bring monumental changes to the Chicago Bears and the NFC North Division as both the Bears and Vikings have a new general manager and head coach. The Green Bay Packers also might need a new starting quarterback.

The offseason of change has begun in the NFC North with both the Vikings and Bears. After each team had a disappointing 2021 regular season, they have opted for new regimes.

The Bears now have Ryan Poles in place as their new general manager and Matt Eberflus in place as their new head coach. The Vikings have Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in place as their new general manager and Kevin O’Connell will be introduced as the team’s new head coach on Thursday.

The 2022 regular season figures to be an important season for the Bears and the rest of the NFC North as it would appear that the Green Bay Packers may no longer have a stranglehold on the division.

There has been increased speculation that quarterback Aaron Rodgers has played his last game with the Packers and the latest rumor has the Denver Broncos being the team to acquire Rodgers this offseason.

If Rodgers is no longer a part of the NFC North, the division becomes wide open. The Bears would figure to benefit the most from Rodgers’ departure from the division as they have a defense that is capable of contending for the playoffs and an offense that could be successful with Justin Fields as their starting quarterback if the right moves are made this offseason.

However, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson may throw a wrench into the Bears’ plans for 2022. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Watson is beginning to compile the list of teams for which he would like to play for in 2022 and the Vikings are among those teams.

If Deshaun Watson is traded to the Vikings, the Chicago Bears will be in trouble.

Any potential Watson trade will likely be on hold until the resolution of the quarterback’s legal trouble. 22 civil lawsuits have been filed against Watson and have accused the Texans’ quarterback of sexual misconduct. An update on the lawsuits filed against Watson is expected this month as the first set of cases are scheduled to be dispositioned.

If there’s a resolution regarding the lawsuits filed against Watson and the quarterback is traded to the Vikings, that would not be good news for the Bears. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has proven to be a quarterback that struggles when the lights are the brightest. Cousins is not considered to be a threat to the Bears’ division-winning chances in the way that Rodgers was.

Watson did not play during the 2021 season but the quarterback remains one of the top quarterbacks in the league when on the field. Watson on the Vikings would signal a change of the guard for the NFC North as the torch would likely be passed from the Packers to the Vikings instead of from the Packers to the Bears.