The Pittsburgh Steelers star is seemingly unhappy with his team, uncorking a sea of possibilities regarding his future.
TJ Watt set off the NFL zeitgeist this week when he posted an image on social media of himself giving the peace sign. Many took that to mean that he was saying goodbye.
Others believed it was him simply pressuring the Pittsburgh Steelers to budge during a contract negotiation. Either way, the rumblings surrounding TJ Watt in mid-April are not great.
Watt has already addressed his future before, claiming that he wants to stick with the team. However, those statements are three months old, and a new page could be turning. When a star is unhappy, a trade is never out of the question. One only needs to look at the lead-up to Geno Smith’s trade to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Damien Woody on proposed TJ Watt trade
NFL expert Chris Canty suggested that TJ Watt should be traded for Brock Purdy on a segment of UnSportsmanLike on ESPN Radio.
Responding to the clip on an April 11 edition of “First Take,” NFL expert Damien Woody called the idea “disrespectful.”
654 Damien Woody “It’s disrespectful to Brock Purdy, to be honest with you … Why in the world would the San Francisco 49ers, who, by the way, have been unloading guys off their roster because they know they have to pay the quarterback — why would you make that trade? It makes absolutely no sense,” he said.
He added: “And, oh, by the way, for anyone who says ‘Kyle Shanahan, he can go out here and plug and play any quarterback.
“We saw that with Jimmy Garoppolo,’ I think everyone on this panel would say that Brock Purdy is significantly better than Jimmy Garoppolo. S
“o I think from all of this, we got to stop disrespecting Brock Purdy, because he’s a top 10 quarterback in this league.”
Sure, the 49ers would gain TJ Watt to pair with Nick Bosa, but they’d lose Brock Purdy.
If Brock Purdy were to be shown the door, it would leave the 49ers to fill the void.
What a 49ers Brock Purdy exit would look like
Of course, at this point, there is zero chance of a Brock Purdy release. However, trading him away might nab the 49ers draft capital to find someone with a premium draft stock and get rid of their problem of negotiating with Brock Purdy.
With Purdy gone, the 49ers would be left with Mac Jones and Tanner Mordecai. Jones was recently added this offseason.
Depending on his level of confidence in Jones, Kyle Shanahan could look to the former Patriots rookie star to take over for a season. Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins are still available on the market as well.
Could the 49ers decide to trade away the Super Bowl 58 quarterback, creating a chance for the team’s fourth Super Bowl appearance with a different starting quarterback since 2012?
