Peter King made me think.
In his latest article, he proposed an absurd seven-to-one exchange between the 49ers and the Houston Texans, in which the San Francisco 49ers would send Fred Warner, Mike McGlinchey, Jimmy Garoppolo, a first-round pick in 2021, a first choice for round in 2022, a choice of the second round in 2021 and a choice of the third round in 2022 for Deshaun Watson in Houston.
Why is this hypothetical trade absurd? Because Texans would never accept that. It is not enough. There are essentially two choices in the first round and Warner, which is worth a first round, and then some choices on Day 2, and then Garoppolo and McGlinchey.
Perhaps the Texans would accept Garoppolo in the business as a short-term bridge replacement for Watson. But why did they want McGlinchey? It is not good and not worth much. Perhaps a fifth round choice. He just doesn’t move the needle in this trade. He’s a launch. Literally the least valuable of the seven assets.
So, King tried. Give him credit. He even called McGlinchey a key player, which is rich.
How about we replace McGlinchey in the hypothetical deal with another earlier choice from the first round that still has value?
I’m talking about Javon Kinlaw.
Kinlaw was the 14th choice in last year’s draft. Many teams gave him grades in the first round, so many teams should still like him, even though he didn’t produce during his debut season. The teams will say that he was just a rookie, and had no OTAs or minicamp, and still has potential.
Unlike McGlinchey, a bust known.
Texans are likely to wait until after June 1 to trade Watson, so they can save $ 15 million in cap space. Which means it’s still possible for Watson to fall on 49ers. Perhaps the Texans were interested in a commercial package that included Kinlaw – they certainly need a defensive system to replace JJ Watt.
Something to think about.