Stephen A Smith claims Rams would trade Jared Goff, draft picks for Deshaun Watson

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith claimed on Wednesday’s First Take that “a source just texted me” that the Los Angeles Rams would be “willing” to trade Jared Goff and draft picks to the Houston Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Was the source...anyone in the world?

The moment happened at the end of a segment about Watson reportedly being at odds with the Texans and potentially forcing a trade out of Houston this year. Smith interjected to say that “a source just gave me that information just a few minutes ago” that the Rams would trade Goff and picks for Watson.

The Rams are locked into using $34 million of the 2021 salary cap on Goff regardless of what teams he plays for and his 2022 cap hit won’t be much less than that. Watson has a modest $10.5 million base salary for 2021 but then a fully guaranteed $35 million cap hit in 2022.

If Los Angeles were able to acquire Watson despite not having first, fourth, and fifth round draft picks this year, while also gearing up to set aside about $65 million at the quarterback position in 2022, it would be quite the move.

Stephen A Smith is a paid NFL analyst at ESPN.