Niner Noise
FanSided

Why these 4 teams won’t trade for Jimmy Garoppolo

By Peter Panacy

Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Jimmy Garoppolo, Deshaun Watson, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) and Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Why Texans won’t trade for Jimmy Garoppolo

On the surface, it sure does sound plausible the Houston Texans may be interested in a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo.

So much to the point that even Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk speculated Houston could wind up making the deal later this offseason, riding the same patience in the market playing out just like they did with now-Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Florio wrote:

"For starters, Garoppolo clearly is available. We know that. Unless the 49ers have completely lost their marbles as to the quarterback position (and it’s definitely possible that they have), they’re not going to pay Garoppolo $25 million to serve as the understudy to Trey Lance. Second, the Texans have shown that they know how to slow play a situation, in order to get the best outcome. They did it with Deshaun Watson. And it worked. Which makes them even more likely to keep their heads low and their mouths shut as to the possibility of getting Garoppolo, moving at the right time to get Garoppolo at the rights terms and the right price. Third, the G.M. of the Texans drafted Garoppolo. Sure, Nick Caserio was setting the table for Bill Belichick at the time. Regardless, there’s a relationship there. There’s ownership there. There’s familiarity there."

It does make sense. And if Houston views Garoppolo as a clear-cut upgrade over second-year quarterback Davis Mills, too, there you go.

Except Mills, who completed almost 67 percent of his passes for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns on a truly pitiful Texans offense, might wind up being better than anticipated. And with Houston having just over $9 million in available cap space, still on the hook for $16.2 million in dead money owed to Watson, the financial elements would make things awfully tough unless one of the three parties — Garoppolo, the 49ers and the Texans — would agree to split the costs.

Unlike what Carolina, Cleveland and Baker Mayfield did to engineer that trade, it’s probably a bigger obstacle here.