There is a reason the Houston Texans have not traded Deshaun Watson yet.
They can not.
If they were to trade it now for 49ers or any other team, the Texans would earn $ 21.6 million in dead money. And if they kept it, they would pay only $ 15.94 million in 2021. Which means that trading it now would cost Texans almost $ 6 million more than maintaining it.
So, of course, they haven’t negotiated it yet. They would be incompetent to change it now.
But things will change on June 1st.
At that date, Texans can negotiate with Watson and get a hit of just $ 5.4 million. That is, if they trade it on June 1 or later, they’ll save more than $ 10 million in limit space for 2021. So Texans have to wait until June 1 at least to trade Watson. And then, the NFL’s 2021 Draft will be complete. Therefore, any team that negotiates for Watson will not have to negotiate draft choices in 2021 to obtain it. Instead, they will negotiate future choices and players in the draft.
Which could be good news for 49ers, because they won’t have to switch to 12th choice in the next draft to get Watson. They would still have to send the Texans six or seven resources – some combination of great future draft choices and key players. And I can’t think of a team in NFL history that traded six or seven assets for a player and won a Super Bowl. But that is another problem.
If 49ers want Watson, they must be patient.