Deshaun Watson to Eagles is Rumor of the Day

The disgruntled Texans QB wants to be traded. Could Philly be in play?

The Eagles have sat on their hands so far this week when it came time to improving their team, powerless to participate in the free-agent frenzy that began Monday afternoon because they had no money to spend.

And that inactivity has sparked a rather interesting rumor, with CBS Sports insider Jason LaCanfora speculating that the Eagles could be gearing up for one big mighty swing for the fences that would lead to a Deshaun Watson home run.

LaCanfora had a few quotes supporting his potential bombshell of acquiring the disgruntled Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson via a trade.

Here’s what LaCanfora wrote:

"I hear that it is very much at the ownership level," as one league source put it.

"No action for the Eagles," one GM said. "It has to be killing them."

Another GM said: "Would Howie trading for Watson surprise me? No. Now that you mention it."

There is no mention of the compensation.

The likelihood of a deal happening is probably slim to none, but the speculation is fun.

What could a trade look like?

Well, the Texans don’t have a first or second-round pick in this year’s draft, so the Eagles for starters would have to surrender this year’s sixth overall pick, and probably one of their third-round selections, too. Jalen Hurts would probably be in the deal, too, sending him back to his hometown team.

Next year, the Eagles would have to give up their first-round pick, too, but they might have two of those depending on how Carson Wentz’s playing time goes in Indianapolis. At minimum, the Eagles will have two second-rounders if Wentz doesn’t meet the playing time conditions of the trade.

Would three draft picks - two firsts and a third – plus a second-year quarterback with four games of starting experience on his resume be enough?

Probably not, but it’s a start.

The Eagles are scheduled to have 11 picks in this year’s draft after getting two compensatory selections in the sixth round and another seventh-rounder when receiver Marquise Goodwin’s rights reverted back to the 49ers.

A big reason why this deal likely won’t happen begins with Watson.

Why would he want to come to a team in the early stages of a retool? The reported list of teams that Watson would play for did not include the Eagles.

That’s a hurdle.

Another is salary.

Watson’s cap charge is $15.9 million this year, and the Eagles are just barely under the salary cap ceiling of $182.5M heading into the NFL’s league year, which begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Over the next two years, Watson’s cap charge balloons to $40.4M then $42.4M in 2023. It goes down ever so slightly into the $30M rang over the final two years.

Granted, the Eagles will have more money to absorb the salary hit next year, but they’d have a lot of work to do to squeeze him into this year’s budget, work that would involve more than just restructuring veteran contracts.

Finally, there is competition for Watson's services, with the Carolina Panthers in the mix to bring the QB back closer to where he played college at Clemson. So, the Eagles would need to win a bidding war, something that could prove very costly.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.