49ers: Realistic trade package to get Deshaun Watson

If the Houston Texans finally cave and start to listen to trade offers, the San Francisco 49ers should be making a call to Nick Caserio.

The Houston Texans are at a major impasse. During their introductory press conference for new head coach David Culley, general manager Nick Caserio made it abundantly clear: They have no intention of trading quarterback Deshaun Watson. While that’s nice and all, reports earlier in the day indicated that Watson had requested a trade from the team weeks ago.

While the Texans intend to have Watson on the field for the start of the 2021 season, they don’t have control of the situation. Watson is the one in power, thanks to his no-trade clause. With the 2021 NFL Draft over two months away, you’d have to imagine the Texans would like to get some much-needed draft capital before the big event.

Teams are going to spam Caserio’s phone in the coming weeks, and one organization that should be calling is the San Francisco 49ers. But how can they get a deal done?

Potential trade package to bring Watson to San Francisco

For any team interested in Watson, they have no choice but to surrender massive draft capital to land the 25-year-old. Come on, Watson is a top-five quarterback in the league. He’s not coming cheap! So to start things off, the 49ers would have to offer their first-round picks in the next three years (2021-23).

But what else can the Texans scrape from general manager John Lynch? Considering Houston is without a second-round pick (and their first-rounder) this year, thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade with the Miami Dolphins, they can recoup it by taking San Francisco’s 2021 and 2022 second-rounders.

Now, the 49ers have to wrap up the deal. With Watson gone, the Texans would have no choice but to trot out A.J. McCarron at starting quarterback. That’s not going to fly. With the Texans potentially looking at a rookie quarterback in 2021 or later, they need a bridge quarterback. Luckily for them, the 49ers have Jimmy Garoppolo to send over to H-Town, and Caserio is quite familiar with him.

Prior to landing the Texans’ general manager job, Caserio worked with the New England Patriots as their director of player personnel from 2008-20. Back in 2014, the Patriots scouted and drafted Garoppolo out of Eastern Illinois in the second round of the draft, with the intent of him being Tom Brady’s eventual successor. That didn’t happen, as Brady showed no signs of slowing down and shipped Garoppolo off to the 49ers. Now, Caserio can get him back to replace Watson. Sure, Garoppolo is no Watson, but he’s a starting-caliber quarterback.

So that’s how the 49ers can possibly land Watson. If he wasn’t a dangerous quarterback before, now imagine him playing in the friendly Kyle Shanahan offense, with weapons like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. If San Francisco wants to take the NFC West throne for the foreseeable future, they need to find a way to get Deshaun Watson.

Of course, that’s if the 49ers don’t get Matthew Stafford first from the Detroit Lions.