San Francisco 49ers’ QB: Bet on Watson, Darnold and Garoppolo

The new NFL league year starts in a little over a month, but the excitement is already here for the off-season.

This year’s quarterly market is unprecedented, with several entrees from 2020 likely to wear a different uniform next season. The Detroit Lions have already sent Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff and drafts. We may also see more significant operations involving more quarterbacks over the next few months.

Deshaun Watson remains the best of the bunch. The 25-year-old has officially requested an action request from the Houston Texans, who are determined not to trade with Watson anytime soon. Watson has a trade terms so we could see a long deadlock between the two parties.

The New York Jets and new head coach, Robert Saleh, occupy the No. 2 overall in this year’s NFL Draft and could move on from the third overall pick of 2018, Sam Darnold.

San Francisco seems to be happy with current starter Jimmy Garoppolo, but has been linked with virtually every quarterback on the market since the end of the season.

The race lines for where some QBs will land this season, the Niners have listed as options.

Here’s where oddsmakers have the 49ers going for Watson (thanks to Bovada):

Texans +200
PreDolphins and Jets +350
Panthers +400
49ers +500
Broncos +800
Raiders and Patriots +1400

For Darnold (thanks to Draft kings):

Jets +150
Colts +400
Panthers and Texans +500
Broncos +1000
49ers and WFT +1100
Bere +1200
Saints and Steelers +1400

Bovada’s chances are also where Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz will play in 2021.

Wilson – who has expressed his displeasure over the Seahawks’ ability to protect him on the field – is a long shot to move. Bovada lets him stay in Seattle as the most likely outcome and San Francisco is listed at +2200.

Prescott has been in a stalemate with the Dallas Cowboys over his contract for more than a year. Bovada has him at -1000 to re-sign with the Cowboys while the Niners come in at +2000. The 49ers are not listed among the teams that have the best chance of landing Wentz.

The most likely scenario is that Garoppolo will be the starter in 2021. BetMGM has a chance at where Jimmy G will play next season, and it’s no surprise to see San Francisco as the favorite:

49ers (-400)
Patriots (+450)
Vikings (+750)
Broncos (+800)
Bere (+800)
Colts (+1000)
Texans (+1100)

Let’s not forget that oddsmakers had the 49ers as favorites to land Stafford and that the Rams were on the list before the trade:

It will be very expensive to get Watson out of Houston, while Darnold will not earn nearly as much in any trade. Matt Maiocco of NBC Bay Area wrote an interesting piece on why no current player in the Niners series should be untouchable when it comes to landing a franchise QB.

Maiocco is well plugged into the 49ers and does not even say Nick Bosa, George Kittle or Fred Warner may be out of bounds. Chances are high that one of them will have to be included in some high-profile draws to conquer a talent like Watson.

From now on, Garoppolo is back with good reason as the favorite. San Francisco will still be able to fight with all the leading talents around him on the list. We saw Jimmy G lead a healthy group to a 13-3 finish in 2019 and within seven minutes of winning the Super Bowl.

But if John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan decide they are willing to try to get the asking price for Watson, it will be interesting in a few weeks.

What do you think would be a fair trade proposal to land Watson? With whom would you be willing to step out of Bosa, Kittle or Warner if that meant Watson would be the 49ers’ QB for the next decade?