© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
It’s happening, folks. Maybe. Probably… But it probably won’t be to the 49ers.
Sorry. This was supposed to be a “Deshaun Watson wants out, get psyched,” thing.
Here is the good news from the perspective of the 49ers. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Watson has likely played his last snap with the Texans. According to Schefter:
“Multiple people in and around the Houston Texans organization believe Deshaun Watson has played his last snap with the team, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Watson is still upset with the Texans over, among other issues, the process they used to hire general manager Nick Caserio, according to multiple sources, leading to widespread speculation that Houston could trade the star quarterback this offseason or be faced with the real possibility that he could decide to withhold his services and not report if he isn’t dealt.”
Per ESPN’s Sarah Barhop, the organization has had internal conversations about possible trade partners and what the future without Watson would look like.
The bad news for the 49ers is that there are multiple teams who can put together far better trade packages. Miami has been mentioned by Chris Mortensen and Schefter tweeted that Robert Saleh’s New York Jets have myriad assets to use. Both teams have top-3 picks this year.
There’s no team out there better positioned than the New York Jets to put together a compelling trade package for Deshaun Watson. https://t.co/yAegDVMM38
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2021
Per Mortensen:
“A source close to Watson told Mortensen that the Dolphins remain prominent as an acceptable landing spot because the quarterback likes the culture he has observed under Miami head coach Brian Flores and there are no state income taxes in Florida.”
This doesn’t preclude the 49ers trading for Watson, but they are clearly far from the frontrunner.