Where Bears Really Rank Among Teams Coveting Deshaun Watson

The Deshaun Watson trade campaign has taken on a life of its own and there's no stopping it regardless of the kind of stupid rumors it spawns.

The latest one was Watson wouldn't report for team offseason activities, which agent David Mulugheta promptly and thankfully shot down.

On behalf of “#DavidMulugheta”, who I speak to often, I can confirm this information is made up, like much of the other breaking news I’ve heard attributed to “sources close to Watson”. https://t.co/ycF1iqLhzA
— David Mulugheta (@DavidMulugheta) February 1, 2021

What can't be so quickly dispersed because of momentum is all the talk about what it would take for the Bears and other teams to acquire Watson. No one really knows, other than a tweet by a longtime sportswriter who wasn't quoting any source with the team when he said it.

So it's all conjecture based on conjecture. It's not exactly something to pin the hopes and desires of millions of followers.

Of course, it's all anyone has to go on for now, and for quarterback-starved Bears fans it's understandable why they would seize upon this garbage all over social media.

Suppose this actually is true—and that's an extremely large supposition—then here are the teams who have better chances to obtain Watson than the Bears in a trade and would want to do it:

Jacksonville, the New York Jets, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Carolina, Denver, the New York Giants, San Francisco, Dallas, New England, Las Vegas, Arizona and Washington.

That's all.

Each of those teams can offer the Texans better draft picks than the Bears and would definitely be interested in Watson.

Some would be more interested than others and some the Texans probably wouldn't want to hear from anyway. Jacksonville would be one since they're in the same division. Dallas would be another because they play in the same backyard and who wants to be reminded of that mistake every day.

If you're the Jaguars, though, you'd have to think very seriously about making an offer even within the division and if you were Houston you'd have to give it good consideration. It could be the first, 25th and 33rd picks of the draft, as well as a second-rounder next year, in addition to two defensive starters.

Why would Jacksonville offer this trade when they can have Trevor Lawrence and the draft picks? Would you rather have a proven, young superstar quarterback or one everyone thinks will be great but might not be?

The Jets can offer the second, 25th and 34th picks as well as a second-rounder next year and two defensive starters.

The Dolphins can offer the third, 18th and 36th picks this year, a second-rounder next year, and two defensive starters.

So the Bears would be next in line after those three if they offer the 20th and 53rd this year and undefined first- and second-rounders next year with two players?

Not really.

Atlanta has an old quarterback and needs another. The Falcons can offer the fourth and 35th picks this year and first and seconds next year to go with two defensive starters.

The Eagles might have two quarterbacks already but why wouldn't they want Watson instead? And they can offer the sixth and 37th picks this year, first and second next year and two defensive starters along with maybe one of those quarterbacks.

Carolina would rather have a younger, superior talent at quarterback than Teddy Bridgewater and has the eighth and 39th picks in the draft, first and seconds next year and couple young defensive starters.

And so it goes, right down the line including virtually every single team drafting ahead of the Bears on Day 1 with the exception of a few like the Chargers and Lions who've addressed quarterback needs. Then again, maybe the Lions want to take all those first-round picks and get Watson and include Goff in the deal. It's doubtful but if they did they could offer so much more than the Bears.

The 20th and 53rd picks the Bears offer this year can't put them on the same playing field as more than a dozen other teams.

If you're Houston, would you rather have Carolina's eighth and 39th pick, top two picks next year and two young defensive starters or the Bears' 20th and 53rd picks, first two picks next year and the two young defensive starters?

It's not even a choice.

You can go through and take every one of the teams who draft ahead of the Bears this year who can use a new quarterback, and what they can offer the Texans is better than what the Bears can offer in terms of the draft picks.

So those two young defensive starters need to be miles better than what others offer in order to offset the difference in the less lucrative draft picks being offered by the Bears.

The most often suggested players are inside linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Giving up Smith might bother some, but really, to get a quarterback of Watson's talent this isn't even a decision. Of course you'd do it. We're talking Roquan Smith, not Dick Butkus.

Smith and Johnson also are unlikely to sway the Texans over what many other teams offer.

Plenty of those other teams have young defensive starters to include, but even if they weren't as good as Smith and Johnson those draft picks are so much better that the players tossed in wouldn't come close to matching the compensation.

Smith has finished each of the last two years on the bench with injuries. Johnson finished this year the same way, and he hasn't even made an NFL interception. He was ranked by Pro Football Focus among the worst zone coverage cornerbacks in the NFL and the Texans will be running Lovie Smith's zone defenses.

None of this is enough to entice a team like the Jets could, with the second, 25th and 34th picks along with a pick from next year and two more players. The same is true with virtually all of the other teams picking ahead of the Bears this year who are interested in Watson.

So the Bears would really need to go well above what these other teams could offer and they simply don't have an ability to win any bidding war with picks or even players over those teams.

The Bears are probably only about 13th or 14th in line for Watson and maybe ninth or 10th if you consider the value of Smith and Johnson.

Take a number and be seated.

Teams with Picks to Offer for Deshaun Watson Better than Bears

(Chicago has 20th and 52nd picks in 2021, 1st and 2nd round in 2022)

Jaguars (1st-25th-33rd-45th)

Jets (2nd-23rd-34th-2nd round 2022)

Dolphins (3rd-18th-36th-50th)

Falcons (4th-35th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Eagles (6th-37th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Panthers (8th-39th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Broncos (9th-40th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Cowboys (10th-44th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Giants (11th-42nd, 1st round, 2nd round 2022)'

49ers (12th-43rd-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Patriots (15th-46th, 1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Cardinals (16th-49th-1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Raiders (17th-48th, 1st round, 2nd round 2022)

Washington (19th-51st, 1st round, 2nd round 2022)

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