This past season was yet another disappointment for the Cleveland Browns as they finished 7-10. Deshaun Watson was suspended for the first 11 games, so the results might’ve been different had he been out on the field for the entire season.

Watson is going to be under center for all 17 games this season barring an injury, which should give the team a confidence boost and tip the scale in the Browns direction.

In order for Watson to be the difference maker that Cleveland wants him to be, he’s got to be in sync with head coach Kevin Stefanski as well as offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Stefanski and Van Pelt need to develop an offense that fits Watson’s skill set so that he’s in the best position to lead the Browns to wins.

Over the past few seasons, the Browns have been a very run-heavy team (the 2021 Browns were almost identical to the 2019 49ers), but that could be because Stefanski felt limited in what offensive plays he could run with Baker Mayfield as his quarterback. Now that Watson is the quarterback, the playbook should open up and be more diverse.  

Recently, there have been murmurings that free agent wide receiver Deandre Hopkins could sign with the Browns. Adding Hopkins to the offense would give Stefanski, Van Pelt, and Watson that go-to option in tight ball games.

Hopkins and Watson played together in Houston, and they’re both Clemson alumni. If the Browns were to sign Hopkins, he would slide in as the No. 1 wide receiver, pushing Amari Cooper down to No. 2 and Donovan Peoples-Jones down to the No. 3 wide position.

Hopkins, Cooper, and Peoples-Jones have different, complementary skill sets which Watson could utilize when it comes to facing certain opponents this season. For example, when the Browns host the 49ers in Week 6, that could be a matchup that is tailored to Cooper, or when the Browns visit the Broncos in Week 12, that could be a matchup that is tailored to Hopkins (again, this is contingent on Hopkins actually signing with the Browns).

Running back Nick Chubb and tight end David Njoku would play into a dynamic offense, offering the Browns other matchup advantages throughout the season. 

Last season, from Week 4 to Week 7, the Browns lost four consecutive games against the Falcons, Chargers, Patriots, and Ravens. Three of those four games went right down to the wire and looked winnable for the Browns. They lost 23-20 in Atlanta, 30-28 at home against the Chargers, and 23-20 in Baltimore.

In those three games, it was a mixture of bad coaching decisions, defensive lapses, and head-scratching offensive plays that cost the Browns three victories. If Cleveland had won those three games, they would’ve finished the season with a winning record at 10-7, and tied with the Ravens and Chargers in the AFC Standings. Since the Browns rarely seem to finish with a winning record, a winning season could have taken some of the pressure off of Watson as he enters his first full season as the starting quarterback. 

This season, the Browns will be facing the AFC South, which means they’ll host the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars and they’ll visit the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans (Watson’s old team). The last time Cleveland faced the AFC South was in 2020, the same year the Browns narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round.

That year, Cleveland swept all four games against the Colts, Texans, Jaguars, and Titans. Watson knows the AFC South very well, but he still needs the right personnel and play-calling to succeed this season. The Browns will look to accomplish a sweep this season with Watson at the control. That should be feasible given that no team in the AFC South finished with more than nine wins. 

Cleveland will also face the NFC West this upcoming season, meaning they’ll host the 49ers and Cardinals and head out on the road to face the Seahawks and Rams. In 2019, the Browns went 0-4 against the NFC West, so they’ll look for a reverse in fortune this season. The games at home against the Rams and Seahawks were right there, begging for the Browns to win them, but Cleveland couldn’t pull it off.

Had Watson been the QB in 2019, rather than Baker Mayfield, they might’ve won those games. The NFC West could be a dangerous division since San Francisco and Seattle are both expected to be playoff contenders and the Rams look to stay healthy and bounce back. So if the Browns want to feel good about their performance against the NFC West, they at least need to split the season series. 

The last time Watson faced the Seahawks in Seattle was back in Week 8 of the 2017 season when he and then Seattle QB Russell Wilson (who’s now with the Broncos) put on a shootout. Watson was 19-30 for 402 yards and four touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions.

Wilson was 26-41 for 452 yards and four touchdowns, but he had one interception. Wilson and the Seahawks narrowly edged out Watson and the Texans 41-38. When the Browns visit the Seahawks in Week 8 during Halloween weekend, Watson won’t be intimidated by the “12th man” at Lumnen Field. Will Watson and the Browns have a shootout with Geno Smith and the Seahawks this season?   

Cleveland made the huge trade with the Texans to bring in Watson because they felt like they were at the very least a playoff contender. DW doesn’t have to worry about any off-field drama this season, so he can devote all of his attention to fully learning an expanded playbook and developing chemistry with the skill players around him (whether that includes Hopkins or not remains to be seen).

dark. Next. Cleveland Browns: 53-man roster prediction post OTAs. Cleveland Browns: 53-man roster prediction post OTAs

The Browns hope that he’s the missing piece that puts them back into contention this season and moving forward. 

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By now you know the story. After he faced more than 20 allegations of sexual misconduct, the Cleveland Browns sold their franchise’s soul to go all-in on the disgraced Deshaun Watson last spring. For a fleeting moment, you thought it might even work out for Watson in Cleveland, as his situation made a mockery of the NFL’s disciplinary system.

Eight games into his Browns career, Watson looks like a shell of the player Cleveland was willing to set aside all of its principles for. After a catastrophic knee injury for Nick Chubb Monday night, it’s about to get a lot worse before it (ever) gets better.

Given the severe nature of Chubb’s injury, he will officially miss the rest of the regular season. His absence will leave a Grand Canyon-sized chasm of offense in Cleveland’s backfield. You don’t just replace players like Chubb, who has rushed for at least 100 yards in 30 of 77 career games. Losing a player like Chubb means reorganizing your entire offense on the fly. He is a vintage backfield bell-cow of the highest order — a player that teams like the Browns build their entire schemes around.

To state the obvious: This is a problem for both the Browns and for Watson’s attempt at the NFL’s least-coveted “redemption” arc.

Without Chubb to lean on, the Browns will now ask Watson to carry the brunt of their offensive load. This is the same Watson who has amassed one of the worst cumulative expected points added (EPA) and completion percentages over expected (CPOE) since taking his first snap with the Browns. There’s an argument to be made that he’s the NFL’s worst starting quarterback right now, and it isn’t even close. What good is having Amari Cooper and David Njoku as pass targets if they can’t get the ball?

This is also the same Watson who gifted the hated Pittsburgh Steelers not one but two “gimme” defensive touchdowns in arguably the biggest professional football game for Cleveland in the 21st century. Instead of helping put the Browns back on the AFC’s map, Watson did his best 2018 Carson Wentz impression (packaged with the inexplicable yips and all). And he wasted no time doing it:

.@STEELERS PICK-6 ON THE FIRST PLAY

: #CLEvsPIT on ABC
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/zWM8hlwLFw pic.twitter.com/qrdHkRoZHK

— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2023

Then, in an embarrassing attempt to salt away a crucial road victory over a divisional opponent, Watson spontaneously combusted in the waning moments of a 26-22 defeat that had his fingerprints all over it:

ANOTHER HIGHSMITH AND WATT COMBO. TOUCHDOWN STEELERS.

: #CLEvsPIT on ABC
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/zWM8hlwLFw pic.twitter.com/3T15PdcCSI

— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2023

After their brazen display of prioritizing winning football games above all else, the Browns now face a worst-case scenario.

Without Chubb, they no longer have easy offense to lean on. Running backs who average more than five yards per carry over half a decade don’t grow on trees. Watson will be their default life preserver — a reality the Browns once had to feel confident about before his game lost every aspect of its electricity. There’s no snap, no charge to his atrocious Browns’ passing offense, which is 26th in total yards through two games and somehow only has a higher yards-per-pass-attempt than rookie Bryce Young’s Panthers and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow on precisely one healthy calf. There’s bleak and grim and hopeless in this silly sport. Then there’s Watson plumbing the depths of atrocious quarterback play after receiving nearly a quarter-billion dollars in guaranteed money.

In the next two months, Watson’s fledgling Browns will square off with Mike Vrabel’s scrappy Tennessee Titans, two bona fide Super Bowl contenders in the Baltimore Ravens (twice!) and San Francisco 49ers, an upstart Indianapolis Colts squad led by the promising Anthony Richardson, and Pete Carroll’s rising Seahawks in Seattle all before the Steelers visit Cleveland in mid-November to flatten Watson like a pancake (again). There is a very feasible reality where Cleveland has just two or three wins by December. That is decidedly not how the Browns thought their Watson era would unfold.

Nothing Watson has “achieved” with the Browns suggests he’s prepared to elevate them in this impossible moment. He is somehow less of a (positive) difference-maker than noted franchise talents like Zach Wilson and Justin Fields. But the New York Jets and Chicago Bears aren’t nearly as invested in their current quarterbacks’ respective futures as the Browns are with Watson. Everything says Watson is about to recklessly drive them off a cliff like best friends Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis taking an impromptu road trip. Except this tale will not contain any of the wacky hijinks of a beloved cinematic classic.

The worst part for the Browns is that they have no eject button. They traded three first-round picks for a quarterback with a $63.9 million salary cap hit in each of the next three seasons. That is not a typo. Watson’s contract will indeed carry more weight on the Browns’ books than Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert for each of their teams well into the 2020s. Barring some gold-medal-winning financial gymnastics, Cleveland is effectively locked into an extended future of expensive and horrendous quarterback play at the same time. While the Browns are probably accustomed to the latter outcome, years of incompetence under center couldn’t have possibly prepared them for Watson wasting their time and money.

It took all of eight starts for the Watson trade to blow up in the Browns’ face. Their humiliation is likely only just beginning.

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Appearing on ESPN on Wednesday, Chris Mortensen discussed the Cleveland Browns’ impending breakup with Baker Mayfield.

CLEVELAND — Publicly, the Cleveland Browns have remained committed to Baker Mayfield as their starting quarterback in 2022.

RELATED: More Cleveland Browns coverage from WKYC

It appears that privately, however, the franchise is taking a different approach.

Appearing on ESPN on Wednesday, Chris Mortensen discussed Mayfield’s status as Cleveland’s quarterback. And in doing so, the longtime NFL insider revealed that he expects the Browns and Mayfield to breakup, regardless of the outcome of Cleveland’s pursuit of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

“They’re breaking up regardless of whether or not Deshaun Watson ends up in Cleveland,” Mortensen said. “The one thing I was told is that it’s just not a match emotionally. Whereas Baker Mayfield’s passion and emotional leadership was embraced at Oklahoma and even in the beginning with the Browns, things have changed and they want what they consider an ‘adult’ at That position. And Baker Mayfield probably is going to be moved.”

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen says Baker Mayfield and the Browns are breaking up because the Browns want an “adult” at QB pic.twitter.com/cXPIOKNklr

— gifdsports (@gifdsports) March 16, 2022

As to where, Mortensen speculated that the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft could be traded to the Seattle Seahawks, who are in the market for a new quarterback after trading Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. And if the Browns don’t land Watson, who is also being pursued by the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, Mortensen said to keep an eye on Cleveland targeting San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Mortensen’s comments come one day after Mayfield posted a letter to social media addressing his uncertain future with the Browns.

“The past 4 years have been nothing short of truly life changing since I heard my name called in the draft to go to Cleveland,” he wrote. “This is not a message with hidden meaning. This is strictly to thank the city of Cleveland for embracing my family and me.

“I have no clue what happens next, which is the meaning behind the silence I have had during the duration of this process. I can only control what I can, which is trusting in God’s plan throughout this process. I have given this franchise everything I have. That is something I’ve always done at every stage, and at every level. And that will not change wherever I take my next snap. Whatever happens … I just want to say thank you to the fans who truly embraced who I am and the mentality that aligned so well with this city’s hard working people.”

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The Houston Texans 2021 are a Days of Our Lives disguised as a football team, and Deshaun Watson is the Stefano DiMera of the Texan drama Factory. Watson is such an important character to the NFL soap opera that you can’t watch NFL football on Sundays without wondering if about a dozen teams will try to trade in for him this off-season.

There is of course the not-so-small thing of the 22 civil lawsuits pending against Watson – soap opera, baby! – this must be resolved before a team forfeits Nick Caserio a king’s ransom for the services of the quarterback. However, with the 2021 season coming to an end this weekend, here’s the big squad of teams that should pick up the phone and call Caserio as soon as the season ends, for no other reason than to say, “Call Before you do it “one step!”

The list includes the first round picks as they are currently set and owned by each team as these picks would be the starting point for any Watson trade talks:

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THE FAVORITES

MIAMI DOLPHINS (22nd overall selection)
The Dolphins are the only team Watson has publicly said would approve a trade. (NOTE: Watson has a ‘no trade’ clause that gives him full control over where he lands.) Their seven-game winning streak ended in one fell swoop last weekend and Tua Tagovailoa has been mediocre this season. So yeah, the dolphins are still in the mix. Notably, the first-round pick they own in 2022 is actually San Francisco’s pick from the Trey Lance deal.

CAROLINA PANTHERS (6th overall selection)
The Panthers started the season 3-0, with Sam Darnold playing decently. They’ve only won two games since then, and Sam Darnold turned back into Sam Darnold so he had to go to the bench for a washed up Cam Newton. The owner of the Panthers, Dave Tepper, reportedly wanted to trade for Watson even though his legal issues remained unsolved. The Panthers are the only team that is not from Miami.

A QB WAY

DENVER BRONCOS (11th overall selection)
Denver was reportedly a favorite landing spot for Watson in the past off-season. Your QB situation with Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock is a mess, but the rest of the list is ready to win NOW.

CLEVELAND BROWNS (13th overall selection)
The Cleveland story coming into the season was whether or not Baker Mayfield would get a major contract renewal. Now, after a terrible 2021 season, Mayfield in Cleveland could be on the way out. Like Denver, this is a deep squad with poor QB play.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (15th overall selection)
This would be a great place for Watson from a footballing perspective – top notch head coach, good squad, rabid fan base. I suppose the only downside would be the proliferation of sketchy massage joints near the French Quarter. Temptation is a tough thing.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (17th overall selection)
Another team that somehow managed to finish around .500 with junk QB games. Would a blue blood franchise like Pittsburgh take on the PR headache like Deshaun’s situation?

Captivating WILD CARD

NEW YORK GIANTS (5th and 8th overall selection)
According to reports, Watson would have approved a deal in the Jets in the past off-season, so we can assume New York is one of the places he would most like to grow his brand. The Giants could have a new GM and head coach after this season. Would a new regime build from scratch or get bubbly with a trade? That is the question.

UNIFORM FACTORS
These are all teams Texans could speak to due to a variety of factors, but a trade cannot come to fruition for equally important mitigating factors:

DETROIT LIONS (2nd and 30th overall selection)
How nice would it be to have the second AND third pick in the draft? Well it would be great, but I doubt Deshaun has visions of Detroit dancing in his head.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (14th, 18th, 21st overall selection)
This would be an ideal trading partner for the Texans, with THREE first-round picks in THIS upcoming draft as a possible prize. Two problems – firstly, Deshaun Watson allegedly does not want to go to Philadelphia and secondly, the Eagles have just qualified for the playoffs with second grader QB Jalen Hurts. Maybe they want to roll with hurts in the future.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (9th overall selection)
Washington has just had a season where they started with Taylor Heinickie all year, so yeah, they could use Deshaun Watson. The tricky thing here is how an organization fined millions by the league for a toxic job (mostly sexual harassment) would deal with a public relations quarterback charged with sexual misconduct by 22 women.

ATLANTA FALCONS (10th overall selection)
This one fits nicely because Watson is from the Atlanta area, so he’d probably approve a deal with the hawks. The problem for the Falcons is that if they moved on from Matt Ryan, they’d take a dead-money cap hit of $ 40 million, AND pay Watson $ 35 million in the next season. It’s hard math.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays. You can also follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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The Houston Texans’ decision to sign veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor earlier in the off-season was not necessarily seen as a harbinger of things to come. The signing could have taken place under star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who asked for a deal. But that’s pretty much the extent.

Fast forward a few months and that’s no longer the case. After the first selection in the 2021 NFL Draft for former Stanford quarterback Davis Mills, it is firmly believed that the Texans are different from Mr. Watson.

“Teams I’ve spoken to in the league are finding that the Houston Texans are slowly departing from Deshaun Watson because they have their bridge quarterback in Tyrod Taylor and their development draft pick in Davis Mills, a quarterback I ‘. I’ve said they get on really well with his instincts, intelligence and big arm, “ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently noted (h / t Bleacher Report).

All of this has an obvious background. Rumors of Watson’s dissatisfaction with the Houston Texans gave way back in March to a more notable story in which the quarterback was accused of sexual assault. Since then, women north of 20 have made similar allegations in civil cases.

While the legal situation has not yet been resolved in a civil court, the Houston Police Department has launched a criminal investigation into the allegations. Meanwhile, Roger Goodell and the NFL have launched their own investigation under the guise of the Code of Conduct.

Did the Houston Texans show their hand with Deshaun Watson?

December 20, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) during the warm up before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

With no selection in either of the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, Houston surprised the crowds by putting Mills at the top of the third round. While viewed as a project, don’t use that type of draft capital on a quarterback – they keep nothing but a backup.

These Texans not only added Taylor and Mills, but also traded for Ryan Finley from the fourth round of the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s three new quarterbacks in the mix months after Houston new general manager Nick Caserio even resisted the possibility of trading with Watson. Houston could be gearing up for some end of NFL action when it comes to Watson.

What’s next for Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans?

December 27, 2020; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

It is more than likely that Watson will be put on the commissioner’s exception list later this summer in case the legal situation does not peak in the near future. At this rate, there is no reason to believe that Watson’s legal team will reach an out-of-court settlement. This will lead to a lengthy process.

Recent reports have shown that Watson is likely to be suspended from the NFL before the legal situation in the Houston area emerges. The league reserves the right to suspend a player without charge in a criminal court or conviction. That is another important setting.

Should Watson be cleared of these allegations in time for the start of the 2021 NFL season, there is now every reason to believe the Texans will have trade talks with teams. That market could also be curtailed after interested teams from the San Francisco 49ers (Trey Lance), Chicago Bears (Justin Fields) and New England Patriots (Mac Jones) added quarterbacks to the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

WATCH: Sportsnaut’s Carolyn Manno on the latest NFL draft rumors

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Fair or not, Deshaun Watson’s allegations will have an impact on the San Francisco 49ers’ interest … [+] in the QB. (Photo by Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

Getty Images

The San Francisco 49ers entered the NFL free agency phase this week, with a clear need for quarterback and questions related to reigning starter Jimmy Garoppolo.

After the first few days of free hand, these questions have come no closer to being answered. Options are dwindling and a potentially explosive off-field situation around the Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson trading destination is of no help.

Meanwhile, the 49ers invited former Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco to visit this week. Chances are he’ll be cheaply signed to be Garoppolo’s back. That comes after San Francisco missed out on free agent targets like Mitchell Trubisky and Andy Dalton.

Going forward, it really seems like San Francisco’s options to be the first week starter next season are due to Garoppolo or a potential unnamed first-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.

MORE FROM FORBESReview of an eventful day 1 at the NFL Free Agency for the San Francisco 49ersBy Vincent Frank

Deshaun Watson’s assault allegations make things difficult

It is now known that several women have come forward to accuse the reigning NFL champion of sexual assault. Houston attorney Tony Buzbee has already filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of his clients, stating that he has nine women ready to come forward.

The NFL sent a letter to Mr Buzbee indicating that the league is launching an investigation into the matter under the guise of a personal code of conduct.

None of this means that 25-year-old Watson is guilty of a crime. Criminal charges have to be filed against him. There’s no telling whether a Texas criminal investigation is even in sight.

The NFL’s decision to investigate this matter changed the dynamic a bit. Under the leadership of Commissioner Roger Goodell and Co., the league has historically dropped the ball when it comes to similar off-field situations. They had to investigate as soon as the allegations became public.

Without going into the details or going into the content of the allegations, one thing has become clear. It will be difficult for any team to act on behalf of Deshaun Watson as matters relating to the NFL investigation are still open and further clarity on the allegations is lacking.

Put simply, Watson is less likely to be treated now than it was a week ago. Although the quarterback wants to play in San Francisco and the 49ers are obviously interested, he will be out of red and gold shortly.

The San Francisco 49ers always wanted to upgrade through Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo could be their option by default. (Photo by Abbie Parr / Getty … [+] Images)

Getty Images

General Manager John Lynch and Co. can publicly tell us what they want. They believe that if Jimmy Garoppolo is healthy, he will be the first week starter. Reports also appeared to suggest that the 49ers would only leave Garoppolo if they acquired Watson. Now that this is unlikely in the short term, the quarterback’s job is safe. Right?

Well, not that fast. It is evident that San Francisco did not see Carson Wentz as an upgrade over Garoppolo before being transferred to the Indianapolis Colts from the Philadelphia Eagles. Hence the team’s lack of interest.

The same cannot be said of former Detroit Lions caller Matthew Stafford before he was transferred to division rival Los Angeles Rams. San Francisco was in Stafford. It made a trade offer.

Unfortunately, nothing materialized on that end after Los Angeles offered a starting caliber quarterback in Jared Goff and two picks for the first round to land Stafford. It’s an offer the 49ers just couldn’t keep up with.

A few weeks later, the quarterback’s 49ers are in a less than stellar position. Garoppolo returns after missing half of the games in San Francisco due to an injury for the past three seasons. The 29-year-old quarterback is expected to pay $ 26.4 million against the cop in 2021 – which puts the 49ers in an unenviable financial position.

The San Francisco 49ers make plans in the free agency clear

The 49ers’ interest in Joe Flacco is telling. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Getty Images

As options continue to dwindle, the 49ers have shown their hand. With a keen interest in Stafford and ignoring Wentz’s availability, it is clear that the only thing that will end the Garoppolo era in San Francisco will be some kind of blockbuster deal.

No, that doesn’t include the takeover of Sam Darnold as part of a deal with the New York Jets. The former number 3 would be tricked into competing with Garoppolo rather than replacing the reigning 49ers starter.

John Lynch and Co. are apparently against the idea of ​​a quarterback competition involving Garoppolo during training camp. This is why the 49ers are interested in Flacco, despite not making strong games for the Trubisky and Dalton mentioned above.

These two players would likely have been in a competition with Garoppolo. Obviously, Flacco would simply be used as a veteran backup option. For some reason, San Francisco’s brass believes a Garoppolo-run quarterback competition would have a negative impact.

The 2021 NFL Draft becomes an option for the San Francisco 49ers

BYU QB Zach Wilson will be an option for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft. (Photo of … [+] Mark Brown / Getty Images)

Getty Images

San Francisco, a team that still believes their Super Bowl window is wide open, made win-now moves in the early days of the NFL Free Agency.

This included the re-signing of the left tackle against Trent Williams for the largest contract in league history for an offensive lineman. It also included signing a three-year contract for Pro Bowl Center Alex Mack, while other deals were structured to get minimal hits against the NFL’s 2021 salary cap.

All of these steps were under the guise of competition in 2021. In fact, Williams and Mack together will cost less than $ 12 million against the cap.

So why would the team turn around and either trade in for a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft or pick a number 12 overall? It doesn’t seem intuitive if we don’t focus on it from a purely financial perspective.

I mentioned above that Garoppolo had a cap hit of $ 26.4 million in 2021. San Francisco can get off the cap by trading or posting, saving $ 23.6 million over that cap.

A rookie quarterback would then step in as a likely first week starter and get a lot cheaper in the process.

This would allow the 49ers to make win-now moves when a second tier of free agents hits the open market based on the 2021 NFL draft. With the re-signing of Williams and the acquisition of Mack to bolster its offensive line, San Francisco could actually lean in that direction.

The problem here is that rookie quarterbacks rarely start in competing teams. Given Kyle Shanahan’s complex system in San Francisco, this is magnified even further.

It’s also important to note that any Joe Flacco signing would pretty much create a full quarterback space in San Francisco with Garoppolo and Josh Rosen as holdovers.

MORE FROM FORBESAnalysis of the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback options for the 2021 NFL seasonBy Vincent Frank

Heck, there’s a chance (as slim as it may be) that Flacco will then take over as a hypothetical bridge quarterback with an unnamed first-round pick learning behind him in 2021. Who reading this has confidence that they can be that 911 while leading San Francisco to the Super Bowl competition? I didn’t think so.

Even then, there are a number of fascinating scenarios for San Francisco in the quarterback position in next month’s NFL draft.

For BYU’s Zach Wilson, the ideal scenario would be to close a blockbuster deal with the New York Jets in second place overall. That hypothetical deal would involve New York’s brass coming to the unlikely conclusion that Sam Darnold is the man for the job.

Outside of Wilson, San Francisco could potentially trade up to the bottom half of the top 10 against someone like Justin Fields, of Ohio, or Trey Lance, of North Dakota. Both are talented. But they are also seen as projects. There’s little reason to believe they can be day one starters. The same goes for the reigning Heisman finalist Mac Jones from Alabama, who could possibly be had in the 12th election.

What does it all mean? It’s the detour to say that either Jimmy Garoppolo or Zach Wilson will be the starting quarterback for the 49ers when week 1 of the 2021 NFL season comes up.

Unless, of course, Deshaun Watson’s situation takes a dramatic turn in about six weeks before the 2021 NFL draft.

The post Deshaun Watson Allegations Slim Down San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Choices appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

As we enter the third day of the NFL Free Agency Legal Manipulation Period and the actual free agency begins today at 4 p.m. EST, your Houston Texans have come no closer to solving the Deshaun Watson puzzle.

In fact, yesterday’s deal with quarterback Tyrod Taylor sends a message preparing Houston to roll in the center without DW4 in 2021. Don’t worry, they ALL have linebackers … surely one of them can magically avoid a sack to beat the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs?

No?

Ok go ahead

Yesterday Mike Lombardi, longtime NFL front office manager, was on the Rich Eisen Show to discuss Deshaun Watson’s situation. After comparing Watson to Dan Marino and Peyton Manning, Lombardi went further into the reality of the situation from the perspective of Nick Caserio, Houston general manager.

For those who are at TL; Suffering from DR syndrome, rumors from Watson’s camp make it clear that he doesn’t want to play for the New York Jets or the Miami Dolphins, the only two teams who can put together a trading package that is worthwhile for Houston.

Where will Deshaun Watson play in 2021?

Instead, Watson wants to be at the center of the Denver Broncos or the San Francisco 49ers – and no one else.

When Nick Caserio tells the world that Watson is vetoing a deal with your preferred trading partners, not only are you in a very weak negotiating position, but Watson’s worth in an outbound trade is dramatically devalued.

It must be a sigh of relief for the Broncos and 49ers to know they don’t have to compete with the Jets or Dolphins, who can both offer multiple first-round draft picks and at least one starting quarterback.

And blood in the water.

What does it come down to in the end? Caserio would be a fool if he made a deal that would have his hands tied. If he’s bargaining from a position of strength where he can play Miami versus New York versus Denver and everyone else, then trading with Watson is a bitter pill to swallow and move on. It would suck, but life goes on.

Starting trade negotiations knowing that his only potential trading partners are limited to a pair of the other 32 teams is very much like the alleged road DeAndre Hopkins sent to the Cardinals of Arizona.

And we all know how that turned out.

If what Lombardi heard through the rumor mill turns out to be true, we can all expect Deshaun Watson to either soak it up and report to the Texans or sit on his couch on Sundays in 2021. He Can Invite Marino and Manning Tyrod Taylor works with Tim Kelly to bring Houston back to an AFC South Championship.

While Watson reads these pieces highly dubiously, hopefully he will give him a break if he does.

Do you really want to get out of Houston, Deshaun?

Give Caserio a bigger pool of other teams to trade with … that’s the way.

In the meantime, rest assured that general managers across the league are taking note of how the Watson / Houston scenario is playing out, whether or not they won’t allow trade clauses in future contracts, and how they’re protecting their teams from a situation like us I’m watching in H-Town. Aside from the fact that Jack Easterby wasn’t hired, this is …

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