The Houston Texans have interest in acquiring Patriots backup quarterback Ryan Mallett, according to a source.
There’s been speculation about that ever since former Pats offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was hired as head coach of the Texans. Now, it’s more than a game of connect the dots.
With the landscape quickly thinning of those free agent veteran quarterbacks who might pique O’Brien’s interest as a placeholder for a prospect, Mallett remains a potential target and familiar commodity.
Former Patriots backup Matt Cassel had been available until re-signing with the Vikings last week. Ditto Chad Henne, who agreed on a two-year deal Friday to remain with the Jaguars.
All that means Mallett’s trade value has likely increased, even though he has no NFL experience in games that count. Last year, both the Buccaneers and Browns showed interest in Mallett, but nothing ever materialized.
Tom Brady’s backup the past three seasons, Mallett is entering the final season of his rookie contract. Mallett was a third-round pick, but the Pats would likely try to net a higher pick in return. The Texans, who select first in the draft, have an early second-round pick, the No. 33 overall.
For the Texans, acquiring Mallett or another veteran would take the burden off them choosing a quarterback with the No. 1 pick. While there is a wide division among draft experts as to career projections for the top quarterback prospects in the class of 2014, most of them seen as raw and unready at the least, O’Brien obviously knows what he’d be getting in Mallett, having coached him his rookie year.
Redskins in on Talib
The Washington Redskins just might be the primary competition trying to keep Aqib Talib from returning to Foxboro.
Bleacher Report analyst and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, who was in the Pats organization recently as a coaching assistant, and also played with Talib in Tampa, reported yesterday that he hears the ’Skins are going to be “major players” in the bidding for the shutdown corner.
In many ways, it makes sense, as there were also some rumblings about that a few weeks back at the NFL’s scouting combine.
Raheem Morris, who coached Talib in Tampa, is the secondary coach in Washington. The ’Skins, who had one of the worst pass defenses in the league in 2013, also have a ton of cap room ($20 million) to spend to improve the unit. They already locked up DeAngelo Hall and Talib would fit well at the opposite corner.
Talib wants to be paid as a top-of-the-market corner. The early results show some big price tags.
With the Dolphins signing Brent Grimes to a four-year, $32 million contract, including $16 million guaranteed, that established the baseline for the market. Free agents began assessing their place in that market yesterday, as the legalized free agent tampering opened at noon.
Green Bay’s top corner Sam Shields also cashed in, re-signing with the Packers for a reported 4-year, $39 million deal. So Talib will be expecting as much, if not more.
Teams have more money to spend this season with the salary cap increasing by $10 million per team to $133 million, so there are likely to be even more inflated deals ahead.
The Pats just might have to dish out more than they’d like in order to keep Talib, as well as Brady’s go-to-guy, Julian Edelman, once the dust settles.
Digging for dollars?
Before Tuesday, when free agency begins in earnest, the Pats will also be laying some groundwork with outside free agents they’ve targeted in hopes of signing.
As of yesterday, the Pats had roughly $12.69 million in cap space. They can create plenty more either by releasing a few players, or perhaps restructuring or extending a few deals.
Defensive captain Vince Wilfork ($11.6 million cap hit) and Logan Mankins ($10.5 million) are the prime candidates for reworked deals to gain cap relief. To that end, ESPNBoston.com reported yesterday that talks had already started with the Wilfork camp.
