According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, more than half the teams in the NFL have reached out to the Houston Texans to inquire about quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has officially requested a trade. It's not inconceivable that the San Francisco 49ers are among those interested. A generational talent like Watson, who is just 25 years old, doesn't become available often. There will be a lot of competition trying to pry him away from the Texans.

"Essentially, anyone who needs a quarterback is going to be calling," Rapoport said Thursday on NFL Network.

The question for the 49ers is whether they are willing to surrender enough capital to show they are seriously interested in Watson. Or will the team choose to go with another quarterback, like Matthew Stafford, who would require less? There has been a lot of Watson-to-49ers chatter this week at the Senior Bowl.

The 49ers could even stick with Jimmy Garoppolo. It wasn't that long ago that head coach Kyle Shanahan said he expected Garoppolo to be the team's starter in 2021. Of course, that was before the quarterback landscape across the NFL looked on the verge of a massive shift.


"The Houston Texans, if they do decide to trade Deshaun Watson, are going to get a trade package that is going to be unprecedented," Rapoport said. "We've seen some big quarterback deals. Jay Cutler in 2009 went for two ones and a starter. It is expected to be more than that.

"This is probably going to rival some of the draft moves with multiple first-rounders. You're talking maybe not two, maybe three first-rounders and players. This is a generational quarterback who is also a great person and a great leader.

"If the Houston Texans decide to part ways with Deshaun Watson, it's going to be because they have no choice, because the package is that big, and because it is something they would use to rebuild the rest of their organization. Again, the Texans have not publicly made that decision."


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