NFL Rumors: ESPN Smith claims Rams working to deal Goff for Watson

NFL Rumors: ESPN First Take Stephen A. Smith claims LA Rams are packaging QB Jared Goff and draft picks in attempt to acquire Texans QB Watson

When it rains, it pours, particularly if you are LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff, preparing to play in the Divisional rRound of the NFL playoffs. Talk about kicking a player when they are down. On top of everything else, now the Rams hurler must deal with the NFL Rumors proclaimed by ESPN’s First Take Stephen A. Smith that the Rams are assembling a package of Jared Goff and NFL Draft picks to offer the Houston Texans for their quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Of course, the relationship between the Houston Texans and starting quarterback Deshaun Watson has publicly eroded. The Texans have strained the relationship over several years, with the first public acknowledgement occurring when they traded favorite wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals without discussing the matter with Waton before executing the trade.

Watson has a legitimate gripe

The Houston Texans further ignited the ire of starting quarterback Watson by completely ignoring his pleas to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy for the Texans vacated head coaching position. Unfortunately for Watson, the Texans pressed ahead with the interview process without Bienemy.

It’s never a good thing when the team is pissing off their franchise quarterback.

The Texans hired former New England Patriots executive Nick Caserio to right the wrongs of the Texans organization. But Watson found out on social media, incensing him and causing him to acknowledge that he would like to be traded away. All the while, the LA Rams starting quarterback Jared Goff struggled with a completely different set of problems

Gimpy Goff forced to sit one out

After suffering a broken and dislocated thumb in Week 16 against the Seattle Seahawks, Goff underwent corrective surgery on the thumb of his throwing hand. He had to sit out the season finale as the Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals 18-7 and claimed the sixth-seed of the NFL Playoffs.

That was only the second game that Goff sat out. The other occasion was a deliberate maneuver in the last game of 2018, where the top-seeded Rams simply rested all of their starters.  Goff doesn’t like watching from the sidelines, whether or not he can play, or even grip the football. And his inability to grip the football was apparent when he was forced to enter the Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks.

Banged up relief for banged up quarterback

After a vicious hit from Seahawks safety Jamal Adams on the helmet of Rams quarterback John Wolford sent Wolford to the hospital, the Rams were forced to put Goff into the game. if you saw the game, you know that he was not ready to play. His throwing hand thumb was significantly swollen. His throwing motion indicated that he could barely grip the football. And his performance resulted in a paltry nine out of 19 passes completed for 155 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. And the Rams won in style by a final score of 30-20.

The performance was not the highlight of the game. But as is the case so often, it was good enough to earn another victory for the LA Rams who now advance to the Divisional Round in the NFL Playoffs and will face the Green Bay Packers at chilly (but not frigid) Lambeau Field. The banged up Goff did what he needed to do, ensure the Rams win and advance.

ESPN Smith claims insider information on NFL Rumor over Goff/Watson

Now Stephen A. Smith is at it again. Smith claims that he had received an insider tip on Rams assembling package to offer for Watson. In his exact words? ‘A source just texted me that information, that’s not me and my opinion. A source just gave me that information a few minutes ago.’  That was the claim on ESPN’s First Take today by Stephen A. Smith at the 0:07 second mark in the video below.

So what can we make about all this? Well the use of the team ‘source’ is indicative of anyone. It could be someone with the position to know the inner workings of the Rams or Texans organization, a buddy from a local bar, a class project from a neighborhood kindergarten class, or the custodian from the ESPN studios. Now, he is claiming to have insider information about the LA Rams packaging picks and QB Jared Goff to offer the Houston Texans

That’s unlikely. But Smith stated it on the air, so it needs to be addressed.

Shock Jock modus operandi

Stephen A. Smith is a national sports media ‘shock jock’, someone whose reputation is made by voicing controversial opinons about sports teams and sports figures. His history and track record suggest no access to anything closely related to the inner workings of the LA Rams personnell department. But he does have a track record of spitballing vitriol at the LA Rams, and particularly quarterback Jared Goff.

What could be more mean-spirited and cruelly-intended than to claim an ‘unnamed source’ about a trade involving the quarterback of a playoff team preparing for the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs? If you want to stir the pot now, that’s one helluva way to do it.  But there are few critical facts missing. First and foremost, Watson has a no-clause that will need to be cleared by him prior to any deals. Secondly, no playoff team risks dangling their starting quarterback in any trade talks prior to their season being over. So held up to the light, this one fails to cut the mustard.

But we’ll play along. What would it take for the Rams to pry Watson away from the Texans?

What would it take?

Blockbuster trades of quarterbacks do not happen that often in the NFL. But if and when they do, they saturate the NFL headlines for days, as there is plenty of room to discuss what led to the trade, what makes up the trade, what will be the impact of the trade, and the winners and losers of the trade. That takes days to write, edit, publish, and absorb.  When did a quarterback trade last occur?

The Chicago Bears traded for then Denver Broncos starting quarterback Jay Cutler for the price of two first round picks and a third rounder. Also included in that deal was QB Kyle Orton to the Broncos for a fifth round pick. Right now, the Houston Texans are in sharp need of 2021 NFL Draft picks. The only problem? The Rams are the only one of two NFL teams with fewer draft picks.  So let’s park that to the side and discuss salary cap considerations

Salary Cap considerations

Both Deshaun Watson and Jared Goff have multi year deals for a sizeable amount of money, including guaranteed dollars and signing bonus money. So swapping Goff and Watson will create dollar impacts to both the Rams and Texans, some of which may be unexpected. To determine what the contracts for Jared Goff and for Deshaun Watson look like, I turned to the bean counter analysts at Over the Cap.com.

Year        Goff Cap           Watson Cap    Rams trade impact      Texans trade impact
2021      $34,625,000    $15,940,000    adds  $3,575,000        adds    $44,000,000
2022      $25,825,000    $35,000,000    saves $3,475,000       saves  $20,000,000
2023      $25,825,000    $37,000,000    saves $3,475,000       saves  $11,725,000
2024      $26,325,000   $32,000,000     adds   $2,074,936       saves  $10,725,936

Trading both player accelerates the bonus payments, but creates additional savings in future years.  All in all, the contract swap results in a balloon hit to the Texans salary cap in 2021, but significant future savings. The Rams will see minimal savings or cap hits from the overall net effect. And it goes without saying that the participating teams will make all necessary roster moves or contract renegotiations to ensure that any cap impacts fit in 2021 and future years.

Potential trade package

The LA Rams are an unlikely trade partner for the Texans in seeking the services of their starting quarterback DeShaun Watson. But if it were to take place, what would it take? Well, the Rams got a second round pick for WR Brandin Cooks, so they would look for a future second pick for Goff at a minimum.  And Watson would command multiple first round draft picks to get the Texans attention. So this is a likely starting point for any potential trade

Of course, to protect both teams, a creative inclusion of additional picks or conditions that trigger those picks could be part of any acceptable trade. And the exhange will only be discussed if the Houston Texans share the belief that Rams quarterback Jared Goff is worth starting as their franchise quarterback.  If they share the opinions of many that Goff is worthless, then they never negotiate and this deal is over before it happens.

Great idea, horrible timing

The potential trade of Jared Goff to the Texans for Deshaun Watson is certainly one that, when analyzed from either team’s business mindset, carries some intrigue.If the Rams gamble and win, they have a plug-and-play elite quarterback who can take over the helm for the Rams today.  If the Texans gamble and win, they too can may end up with an elite quarterback who can lead their team for the forseeable future, plus three first round draft picks to build a quality roster around him.

No trade is a guarantee to either side, It’s the measure of reward over risk that compels teams to the trade market, and right now both the Rams and the Texans have logical reasons to do so. Will they? According to ESPN First Take’s Stephen A. Smith, the Rams are already at work of assembling a compensation package to persuade the Houston Texans to do so. It will take multiple first round picks, which the Rams have shown they are willing to part with.

There’s more for the LA Rams to focus upon right now than a trade for Texan QB Deshaun Watson.  But if Stephen A. Smith is correct, this could be a blockbuster trade.  Is he correct? Even a broken clock gets it right twice in one day.