Deshaun Watson jokes that the Cowboys should draft him and trade Dak and Romo

Clemson national champion quarterback and forthcoming NFL draft pick Deshaun Watson went to a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday. He was there to receive the Davey O’Brien Award, which he’d won for the second year in a row as college football’s top signal-caller.

Because he’d won the award before, this wasn’t Watson’s first time in Fort Worth. When he visited after the 2015 season, he apparently tried to strike up a deal with Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. The terms of this deal: If Watson could win a second O’Brien, Garrett would draft him. Watson brought this up on Tuesday. (Video’s here.)

“I told you, I promised you, that I’ll be back here,” Watson told a crowd of apparently adoring guests. “And I told Coach Garrett that if I’m back here, if I’m back here, you have to draft me. So I know it’s a lot of Cowboy fans. Tony Romo’s healthy. Dak [Prescott], I’m a huge fan. Love that man. Had the privilege to get to know him this year and text him over the year. He’s been successful. You fell in love with him. But hey, I did my part, you’ve have to do your part. We’ll talk. I’ll see you at the Combine. So we’ll talk more about that.”

The rest of Watson’s riff:

“But it’s awesome to be able to get to know you these two years and just see the success that the Cowboys is having. I was a fan this year. Like I said, me and Dak, we had the privilege to get to know each other. Good friend with Zeke. So it’s just awesome to see those guys have success, and it’s a bright future for that franchise, so thank you, and best of luck.

But still, though, the Browns do need a quarterback. You can trade both of ‘em. I’m sitting right there. They need two. They need two.”

The Cowboys are reportedly expected to release Romo, making him a free agent and making Watson’s plan even more hilariously diabolical and impractical. It did make for a pretty enjoyable awards dinner speech, though.

Prescott wasn’t considered one of last year’s top draft prospects. He went off the board in the fourth round and seized the reins in Dallas when Romo was injured and turned in a brilliant season.

Watson is a top prospect ahead of the draft, and he’s shrugged off comparisons to Prescott in recent days. If Watson’s going to succeed in the league, he’ll do it as Watson and no one else, and it won’t come as quite the same surprise.

Top prospects ostensibly asking for the Cowboys to trade up to draft them (though Watson doesn’t request that specifically) is a popular thing this year. Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett already asked for it, too.