The 49ers' trade-up to draft Trey Lance was bad, but remember, they were in on trying to land Deshaun Watson that offseason, too.
The San Francisco 49ers held no secrets about wanting to acquire a new quarterback entering the 2021 offseason. After frustrating up-and-down efforts from oft-injured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch wanted to turn the page.
Ultimately, that journey resulted in the Niners aggressively trading up for a raw signal-caller, Trey Lance, at No. 3 overall in that year's NFL Draft.
The Lance experiment wholly failed, of course, leading to San Francisco trading him to the Dallas Cowboys after just two seasons.
However, leading up to Lance's selection, there were plenty of other pursuits and potential detours along the way, including a not-so-private interest in then-Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson
Watson, who had previously demanded a trade, was one of the 49ers' possible options that offseason to replace Garoppolo. Heck, the Niners were reportedly kicking around the idea of trading with the Green Bay Packers for Aaron Rodgers, too.
San Francisco couldn't pull off a deal, though, and settled on Lance. Watson ended up going to the Cleveland Browns a season later after the Texans effectively suspended him for the entirety of 2021.
In hindsight, again and again, the 49ers couldn't be happier they missed out.
Browns' admission on Deshaun Watson gaffe alleviates 49ers' failure to trade for him
Watson subsequently signed a five-year extension with Cleveland despite allegations of sexual misconduct during his time in Houston, yet that deal was worth a fully guaranteed $230 million.
Of course, the quarterback's story after that deal has been one of pure controversy, marked by more accusations of sexual misconduct, suspension, injuries and wholly failing to live up to his status as the Browns' cornerstone under center.
In total, Watson has appeared in just 19 regular-season games since the trade, leaving the Browns to ponder all the "what ifs?" along the way.
"It's the worst trade in the history of the National Football League and it's not close."@PriscoCBS on the Deshaun Watson trade. pic.twitter.com/REazYhxiIH
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) March 31, 2025
Speaking from the NFL Annual Meeting heading into 2025, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam publicly admitted the mistake:
#Browns owner Jimmy Haslam says the team is still recovering from 'a big swing and a miss' on Deshaun Watson and to hold "me and Dee accountable."
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 31, 2025
Ouch.
Watson's future, of course, is murky at best as he recovers from an Achilles tear suffered last season, one that could potentially keep him off the field for all of 2025, too.
With Cleveland poised to move on, effectively admitting as much, it's fair for the Niners to look back and also admit a "swing and a miss" with Lance.
But, at least they can feel better at not ever being able to swing and miss with Watson.
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