Miami Herald reporter Armando Salguero reported that Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson’s preferred trade destination is the New York Jets. Watson’s second choice is the Miami Dolphins. That’s it—no mention of any other team, including the 49ers.
If you take the report at face value, San Francisco is out of the running to land the star quarterback. If you read the article, there’s no mention of any source. A simple control + F answers that question. Most of his article is quotes from Watson or 49ers CB Richard Sherman. A lot of conjecture in piecing puzzles together is how the article reads.
Dig a little deeper, and this report screams like it’s coming from Houston and not Watson’s camp. Aside from the fact that there are no sources mentioned, Salguero lists the two teams with the most to offer Houston.
Watson has been active on Twitter as of late and a vocal supporter of Jets head coach Robert Saleh. It wouldn’t surprise seeing Watson land in New York, but his camp isn’t giving Salguero information. How do I know? History.
Watson is upset at Jack Easterby, who is the Texans VP of football operations. This is a lengthy article about Easterby’s history, where several Texans’ were reportedly bothered by Easterby’s racial stereotypes. This past summer, Salguero had some issues remembering the constitution:
He was also one of the most vocal writers about Colin Kaepernick and had a hard stance that Kap should “stick to sports.” Just a hunch, but Watson’s camp isn’t talking to this guy.
Who knows what other teams have made offers. It’s a safe bet to assume that the 49ers have. Will their offer be big enough? That’s the real question. Any NFC team would seem preferable for Houston as it gets Watson out of the AFC.
It would make sense for someone to leak this to Salguero so that other teams continue to make or up their offer. The speculation continues, and while Watson may end up in Miami or New York, it’s not because of this report.
It’s unlikely that Watson ends up with the 49ers. If you’re hoping San Francisco drafts a quarterback in the first round, the Texans would presumably either select ahead of the Niners or have enough ammo to trade in front of the 49ers.
You have the Jets/Dolphins, Jaguars, Lions, Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Broncos, and potentially Giants as teams who could take a quarterback that draft before No. 12. That’s before we talk about other teams potentially trading up. Jimmy or Mr. Stafford is San Francisco’s likeliest option to start the 2021 season.
