49ers must jump at chance to trade for Deshaun Watson

The Deshaun Watson and 49ers rumor mill is heating up again, and the Niners may have better leverage now than they did earlier this offseason.

Earlier this offseason, the thought of the San Francisco 49ers somehow adding Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson seemed like a distant pipe dream.

Houston was insistent it wasn’t interested in trading its star quarterback, who led the league in passing last year despite having a lackluster supporting cast around him and an inept head coach for much of the year, Bill O’Brien. But even with a new regime change, Watson still wants out, per the latest reports.

And the Niners seem to be in a much better position to acquire him now than they were earlier this offseason.

Watson has made it known he’s willing to sit out the 2021 season if he’s not moved, and that alone could force the Texans’ hand after initially setting a would-be asking price (despite also saying they weren’t trading Watson) of multiple first- and second-round NFL Draft picks along with two young defensive starters.

As the NFL free agency and quarterback markets begin to fall into place deeper into the offseason, the Texans could be running out of options.

The Chicago Bears, a possible contender for Watson’s services, inked veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to a $10 million deal despite having some notable cap issues of their own. It’s likely that move in the wake of Chicago trying desperately to land Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson now rules them out of any Watson sweepstakes.

Deshaun Watson, Texans already have contingency plans?

Mixed in with all this is Houston inking former Pro Bowl quarterback and veteran Tyrod Taylor to a one-year deal, and Sportsnaut’s Vincent Frank broke down what this intention could be with regards to Watson:

"Taylor was darn good during a three-year stint with the Buffalo Bills earlier in his career. From 2015-17, the former late-round pick compiled 65 total touchdowns against a mere 16 interceptions. There’s an argument to be made that he’s not heading to to Houston simply to be a clipboard holder. That will obviously lead to some pretty big speculation.…By acquiring Taylor, Houston has clearly put into place a “Plan B” should the team be forced to move off Watson. New Texans head coach David Culley was the Buffalo Bills quarterback coach when Taylor manned the job in Western New York."

Granted, the move for Taylor could be merely to guard against a would-be Watson hold-out if he actually does follow through with his threats to sit out for the duration of 2021.

Yet another added wrinkle was added to the mix when The Athletic’s David Lombardi appeared on The Rich Eisen Show (h/t Jason Aponte of 49ers Gold Mine) to discuss Watson’s desires.

“[Watson] controls where he wants to go,” Lombardi said. “The rumor is he doesn’t want to play in New York [with the Jets]. The rumor is he doesn’t want to play in Miami. He wants to play in Denver and San Francisco. So now you’re [Texans general manager] Nick Caserio, and your trade options are limited.”

More simply put, the Texans are running out of options in a would-be bidding war for Watson, essentially limited to just the 49ers and Broncos, assuming Lombardi’s report is true.

The Niners may be able to win that bidding war if it would involve moving a starting-caliber quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo.

49ers would send off Jimmy Garoppolo plus more for Deshaun Watson

San Francisco has remained steadfast in its commitment to Garoppolo despite a whirlwind of speculation it would consider moving him this offseason. From a salary-cap perspective, Garoppolo is poised to command $26.4 million in 2021 with $23.6 million in cap savings if traded, according to Over the Cap, whereas Watson is due $10.5 million after a would-be trade.

Watson’s contract increases dramatically in 2022, but that would be a problem for next year. Not now.

It’s unclear whether or not the 49ers would move Garoppolo to Houston in a trade package that would still be awfully lucrative despite Houston’s limited options, although Jimmy G’s prior relationship with Caserio back with the New England Patriots could help matters a bit.

Still, if there was one quarterback the Niners would be willing to go “all in” on this offseason over Garoppolo, it’s Watson. No question about that, particularly for one of the league’s best young quarterbacks coming off his third Pro Bowl campaign in four years.

If there’s anything learned by this, one of four scenarios will play out here:

1. Watson elects to sit out all of 2021 despite the ramifications
2. The Texans improve their relationship with Watson somehow, and he plays
3. Watson gets traded somewhere else
4. The 49ers manage to trade for Watson

Most Niners fans are surely hoping for option No. 4.