Had the Houston Texans stayed on track and followed search firm Korn Ferry’s recommendation, they would likely have hired Pittsburgh Steelers vice president of football and business Omar Khan as their next general manager, league sources told ESPN.
Khan and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick, who are both minority candidates, were the two finalists before Texan owner Cal McNair changed his mind, ignored the search firm’s recommendation that he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do weeks of work and hired former CEO of New England Patriots player staff Nick Caserio, sources said.
Several people in the Texas organization, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, were upset about how Houston’s search took a sudden and unexpected turn, hiring a man who hadn’t put Korn Ferry on the candidate list.
Watson is said to be outraged by the decision, and others are too, with some saying there will be employees who will leave the organization during the off-season.
Watson is on vacation and McNair said he expects to speak with the quarterback as soon as he returns. But how that will go, if it does, remains uncertain. Some in the league believe Watson could choose to withhold his shifts this season. Watson has not commented on that option, but others argue it will be in play.
A person who knows Watson said this week that after the Texans traded Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins off-season last season, the quarterback’s rage level was “a 2 … This time it’s a 10”.