Getty Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans.
The Deshaun Watson trade chatter is in full effect. The NFL‘s passing leader in 2020, Watson is reportedly “extremely unhappy” about his involvement, or rather lack thereof, in the Texans’ hiring process of new general manager Nick Caserio, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
After numerous self-sabotaging personnel moves by now-axed head coach/stand-in GM Bill O’Brien, the Texans have stripped a roster that once reigned atop the AFC South and potentially pushed away their franchise signal-caller in the process.
While Caserio has publically anointed Watson as “our quarterback,” that may not matter if Watson demands a trade, a possibility that he’s apparently “quietly broached” with teammates, via NBC Sports.
With Watson’s career in Houston seemingly in limbo, potential landing spot predictions for the 25-year-old have run rampant over the past 24-odd hours. Kansas City Chiefs star Tyrann Mathieu believes the Saints, 49ers and Bears should be “all in” on bringing Watson to town. Many others believe view the Patriots as a logical fit.
Yet, two-time Super Bowl Champion Lawrence Tynes had a different destination in mind.
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Deshaun Watson to the Giants?
Don’t think too many of the Big Blue faithful would be opposed. Former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes certainly isn’t.
Tynes took to Twitter on Thursday to float a hypothetical trade that would send Watson to New York. Spoiler, he’s willing to sell the farm.
Hypothetically: I would trade the below for Deshaun Watson if I was the @Giants
▪️Daniel Jones
▪️1st round pick ’22
▪️3rd rounder ‘21 & ‘22
▪️Kevin Zeitler
▪️Evan Engram
▪️Eli’s Sunday morning tweets
Certainly a steep price, especially when you take Eli’s Twitter fingers into consideration. All jokes aside, the most glaring takeaway from Tynes’ theoretical package is clearly quarterback Daniel Jones. Obviously, you wouldn’t need Jones rostered should you acquire a player of Watson’s caliber. The question is, would New York be willing to take such a swing?
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Breaking Down the Trade Package: Watson vs. Jones
In many ways, the idea that Watson is dealt a year into a $156 million contract is ludicrous and highly unlikely to occur. However, were he truly for the taking, the Giants should do everything in their power to land the former two-time Heisman Trophy finalist. Problem is, we doubt they would.
General manager Dave Gettleman, who was publically retained this week, has to attached his job security to the coattail of Daniel Jones. By all accounts, he’s not alone in his commitment to the former Duke Blue Devil, as co-owner John Mara and head coach Joe Judge have each echoed said faith in Jones as their guy.
With all that said, Judge is a coach who constantly preaches competition, yet quite frankly there is none when you compare Jones to Watson.
Can Jones still develop into a serviceable, above-average starter in this league? Certainly. He’s shown flashes of being just that throughout his young career. Although a mere 11 touchdown passes in 2020 and a career completion percentage of just 62.2% leaves much to be desired.
To put those numbers in perspective, Watson totaled Jones’ season output in touchdown passes over a four-week span this season, spanning from Week 3 through Week 6. He’s also fresh off a year where he completed a career-high 70.2% of his passes (third-best in NFL).
In fact, no quarterback in league history has been more prolific in terms of completion percentage and touchdown passes over their first four NFL seasons than Watson has, as highlighted by CBS Sports:
Players with at least 100 pass TD and a 67.0 comp% in their first 4 seasons in NFL history:
Deshaun Watson
That’s it.
Too Steep of a Price?
The biggest qualm here for many Giants hopefuls would likely be cutting bait with a first-round pick. Yes, first-round picks present hope, but they also present risk. The up-and-down play of Andrew Thomas this season and the murky draft history by the Giants organization over the past decade highlight just how overvalued a first-round pick can be at times.
The Giants have had four first-round picks over the last two drafts, yet have a total of just 10 wins to show for it over that span. You know who didn’t have a first-round pick this season? The Buffalo Bills. Instead, they dealt their selection to the Minnesota Vikings in order to acquire the services of a bonafide receiving threat in Stefon Diggs.
Fast forward a few months and Diggs led the league in both receptions (127) and yards (1,535), while Buffalo clinched their first AFC East title since 1995.
We’re not saying Diggs was the sole reason for Buffalo’s dominance this year. But it shows the positives that a proven, young commodity can do to help solidify a franchise, of which an unproven prospect may never be able to deliver.
Other Pieces of the Trade
In terms of the other assets involved here, none are truly worth pulling teeth about considering the possible return the Giants could net by solidifying their quarterback position. Evan Engram remains an intriguing talent fresh off his first Pro Bowl campaign. Yet, he’s still vastly inconsistent four years into his career, and many fans would be willing to move off of the former first-rounder for far less in return.
As for Zeitler, he remains a quality starter. Yet, the presence of fellow guards Will Hernandez and Shane Lemieux would greatly alleviate the blow of losing the soon-to-be 31-year-old.
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