The Deshawn Watson saga has come to an end.
He’s headed to the Cleveland Browns. And now everyone can live their own lives.
Baker Mayfield is definitely moving on. He reportedly wants the Browns to trade him to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts seem to be a perfect fit for Jimmy Garoppolo, who remains in limbo while under contract with the 49ers. Garoppolo won many games during his time with the 49ers as he made good use of a strong running game and solid defense. This is the formula for the Colts as well.
Mayfield is a quarterback whose time in Cleveland is up. He’ll take some baggage to his next team. Garoppolo also has many problems. In particular, Garoppolo is a quarterback who won’t be able to throw for another 3.5 months after undergoing shoulder surgery last week.
Despite all the huge news about the quarterback position in the NFL, demand still outstrips supply.
Teams that once had questions for defenders have resolved those issues. Tom Brady is back in Tampa Bay; Denver touched down Russell Wilson; Carson Wentz goes to Washington; Pittsburgh rides with Mitchell Trubisky; and Cleveland canceled the blockbuster deal for Watson on Friday.
Garoppolo and Mayfield remain available, as do Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andy Dalton.
Teams that still need a quarterback include Watson’s underdogs – Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans – as well as Indianapolis, Seattle and Watson’s former team, the Houston Texans. Atlanta was ready to get away from Matt Ryan as they pursued Watson. So some uncertainty remains.
The 49ers were not interested in Watson as their plan remains to hand over the keys to Trey Lance.
Garoppolo was a good starting quarterback for the 49ers. He did more with the 49ers than Mayfield did in four bad seasons in Cleveland.
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In the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers didn’t trade until 3rd overall to get a mid-level quarterback. They expect great things from Lance over a long period of time starting in the 2022 season.
Finding a touchdown spot for Garoppolo wasn’t as easy as expected, due to the volatile quarterback market and the fact that his shoulder has kept him out of quarterback play for a while.
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