The Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers completed a blockbuster trade Friday that has implications on the Houston Texans and quarterback Deshaun Watson.
According to Kyle Madson of the Niners Wire, the Dolphins traded their No. 3 overall pick to the 49ers for their No. 12 overall pick, a 2021 third-rounder, and a first-rounder in 2022 and 2023.
It is almost as though the Niners gave up the draft capital to take Watson, but instead they ended up with prime positioning to take a rookie quarterback, not the three-time Pro Bowler. One has to presume San Francisco is out of the Watson sweepstakes.
San Francisco better hope they are getting the right young talent as the trade is the morning star to the end of the Jimmy Garoppolo era. Trevor Lawrence is presumed to go No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. That leaves San Francisco with their choice of Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and the rest of the 2021 quarterback class. Obviously the Niners believe they have better upside than Watson.
As for Miami, who incidentally dealt the first-round pick that was the Texans and shipped over as part of the Laremy Tunsil trade, they still are players for Watson. Presumably, they can still trade two first-rounders and another top-100 pick from this year’s draft, a future first-rounder, and still not have it cripple their drive to compete in the AFC East for seasons to come.
As it turns out, that is what Miami did to some extent. They sent their newly acquired No. 12 overall pick, 2022 first-round pick, and fourth-round pick (No. 123 overall) to the Philadelphia Eagles for their No. 6 overall pick and fifth-round selection (No. 156 overall).
Houston has also become hard to work with, both intentionally and by circumstance. General manager Nick Caserio has said the club has “zero interest” trading Watson, and that proved true throughout free agency. The Watson sexual assault lawsuits, regardless of what happens legally, have generated a league investigation into a violation of its personal conduct policy. NFL teams are also waiting to see the outcome of that investigation before committing such capital for a piece that may not net a full return.
