49ers Reportedly Willing to Trade for Deshaun Watson Under Certain Conditions

So the 49ers don't have a meeting planned with Deshaun Watson yet, but they could end up trading for him anyway.

That's according to The NFL Network's Jim Trotter, who wrote this in a string of tweets on Wednesday morning:

"Are the 49ers in on Deshaun Watson? Not at this point; it is not something they are pursuing. But there could be a scenario in which that changes. Let’s go through it. First, Deshaun and his team would have to drive the bus and create an environment in which the 49ers believe they have a credible shot at landing DW. How is that done? DW and his team would essentially have to tell HOU that he will only waive his no-trade for SF. Privately, DW has expressed an interest in playing for SF. Then, DW and his team would have to broker a deal knowing that SF does not have the draft capitol that HOU desires. It could become a game of chicken then: DW couldn’t threaten to sit out a second season, but would he?

"If Team Watson were to get HOU to reconsider its demands and create an environment in which SF has a legitimate chance of landing Watson, then the 49ers would be willing to engage b/c Watson is that good. But at this time the 49ers are not interested in creating unnecessary drama. They like Trey Lance and are happy with him. But at the same time it could be considered foolish not to seriously look into Watson if a deal can be done. The organization has no plans to meet with Watson at this point. And as I said earlier, they are not pursuing him. But … if he were to create a scenario in which he could fall into their laps — things would get interesting.

To summarize: The 49ers aren't actively pursuing Watson at this time, whatever that means, but they are making it known that they would love to trade for Watson if he actively pursues them.

I take it the 49ers don't want to make an effort to trade for him and lose out, because that would create drama on their team and in the media. It would show the 49ers don't believe in Trey Lance but are stuck with him anyway.

So this saga will come down to where Watson wants to play. If he decides he wants to play for the 49ers and only the 49ers, then he probably will.

Stay tuned.