Dolphins GM: Trade for Watson was never close

Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said Wednesday that the team ultimately decided not to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson prior to Tuesday's deadline.

"We did our due diligence behind the scenes trying to figure out as much as we can, and we decided not to pursue a trade," Grier said, according to David Furones of the Sun Sentinel.

"We're doing background work and investigating everything. Just because we do that, doesn't mean we're going to do a deal," he added.

Over the last few weeks, the Dolphins were reportedly considered front-runners in trade talks with the Texans for Watson, who's been a healthy scratch for the first eight weeks of the season amid police and NFL investigations. He's facing lawsuits from 22 women who say he committed sexual misconduct or sexually assaulted them during massage sessions.

"We never got to a point where anything was close to happening," Grier said, according to NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe.

Grier didn't deny the reports linking the Dolphins to Watson, but he said most of them weren't accurate.

"I can't come out here denying every week saying false, false, false. ... Even if I did, people wouldn’t believe me," he said.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reportedly "had contingencies that needed to be met" in a potential trade for Watson and made the final decision not to move forward after running out of time to come to an agreement with the quarterback.

Grier said the fact that Miami considered adding Watson doesn't mean the team doesn't believe in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

"We're very happy with Tua. We think he's developing well," Grier said, according to Furones.

"If there's a player available around the league that's viewed as being one of the top players in the league - at any position - I think you look at it and go for it," he added, according to Miami Herald's Daniel Oyefusi.