Should the Jacksonville Jaguars Trade For Deshaun Watson?

DeShaun Watson’s time might be done with the Houston Texans but his career has a long way to go. As of late, a lot of rumors are popping up about Watson’s desire to play for the Miami Dolphins. Miami has a quarterback in place they believe to be their future. There would need to be a lot of moving for the Dolphins to give up to bring the young quarterback in, but should he be looking elsewhere in Florida, say Jacksonville?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been without a franchise quarterback for some time now. Even with Blake Bortles falling one pass shy of a Super Bowl appearance, the Jags still moved on and dismantled the playoff-caliber team that season. Luckily for Watson, this is a different Jacksonville team.

No, they’re not even close in the win column, but they’ve got a lot of power to make moves this offseason. First, the Jaguars can actually take on all of his remaining contracts as they have around $70 million in cap space. Not only would they be able to absorb that contract, but they’ll be able to go out and spend on weapons in free agency too. With 2 picks in the first round and a total of 10 in the 2021 draft, Jacksonville can afford to trade picks to make the deal happen.

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More than likely it would take multiple first-round picks to make the deal happen. It would probably take both of this year’s first-round picks or 1 this year, 1 next year, and a later round pick. If Jacksonville is smart with their spending, they can lose a first or two and have an instant playmaker added to their roster. Jacksonville has been under coached and underperformed for years. They have the talent to build a solid base, now they need explosive playmakers.

The one hold up is their newest head coach Urban Meyer and what his plans are. Of course, there’s always the young stud prospect in Trevor Lawrence available in this draft. However, Deshaun Watson is only 25 years old and would give them the head start they need to get back in the division race. Jacksonville might not want to give up talent such as Lawrence or Justin Fields but they’d skip the development stage and go right to chemistry. Meyer needs to make an instant impact coming from college to the pros. Few have been able to make that transition and if he can get the deal done, it would almost guarantee a few more wins.

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The Jaguars are firmly in the driver’s seat. They could and should give Deshaun Watson a strong consideration, but will he want to go there? He’d still end up in Florida without the tax burden as other states. He’d still be living in the sunshine state. The Jaguars would finally get some national attention. Watson wouldn’t have to worried about going to an unproven head coach situation that he would if he ends up elsewhere.

Deshaun Watson might not be in Houston much longer and should consider his pick in Florida teams. He might want to go to Miami from what Brian Flores has done for the culture, but the Jaguars could be just as beneficial. If the Dolphins aren’t willing to give up the farm for Watson, Jacksonville needs a reason for free agents to sign. This trade could be a win for everyone involved.