49ers reportedly ‘monitoring’ Deshaun Watson ahead of NFL Draft

The San Francisco 49ers are mere hours away from making a franchise-altering decision with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. At least, that’s been the commonsense belief since they traded away to future first-round picks and a 2022 third-rounder to move up from 12 to three.

In truly stunning fashion, there’s now a chance that San Francisco doesn’t end up making that pick after all. Recent reports indicate that the 49ers put in a call about a trade for disgruntled Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. One report since concluded that San Francisco offered up the third pick and more assets for the reigning NFL MVP. Conflicting reports suggest that no trade offer was made.

Now, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the 49ers are also closely monitoring the Deshaun Watson situation with the Houston Texans ahead of the draft.

San Francisco was among the favorites to land Watson prior to more than 20 women alleging sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct in civil cases. Obviously, things have died down regarding a potential trade with the Houston Police Department conducting a criminal investigation and the NFL doing its own investigation under the guise of the league’s personal conduct policy.

Right now, it would be hard for any team to justify trading for Watson ahead of the NFL Draft later on Thursday unless something unforeseeable breaks relating to his legal situation.