Texans need to at least talk to Lamar Jackson

Multiple reports indicate that quarterback-needy teams like the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders are uninterested.

However, one team that wasn’t mentioned was the Texans, which excites me.

H-Town has had terrible luck finding a franchise quarterback since NFL football returned in 2002.

The Texans have shuffled between 20 quarterbacks, the best being an alleged sexual assaulter.

Houston is also stocked high in draft picks following last season’s trade that sent Deshaun Watson to Cleveland for three first-round selections.

If Baltimore needs two ones in the next two drafts, the Texans still would have first-round selections in that year’s respective drafts from the Cleveland trade.

Ultimately, the Texans would be trying to search for their franchise quarterback in the draft.

There are no guarantees about drafting Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, CJ Stroud or Will Levis, but Jackson is more of a proven commodity.

However, the main bump in the road is the amount the agentless Jackson wants to sign.

Per ESPN, Jackson is rumored to be seeking a similar deal ironically to that of Watson’s Cleveland deal following his trade.

Watson signed for a fully-guaranteed $230 million, which set a precedent for the rest of the NFL owners.

To be fair to Jackson, he doesn’t have sexual misconduct allegations, fewer interceptions, a better win-loss record, more rushing yards and more playoff appearances than Watson.

As a starter, Jackon is 45-16 with 101 passing touchdowns to 38 interceptions with 24 touchdowns rushing.

Not bad for a quarterback who many “experts” suggested should switch to a wide receiver.

Jackson has also dealt with one of the weakest wide receiver corps throughout his tenure.

The Ravens have never had a wide receiver representative in the Pro Bowl despite using five first-round picks on wideouts.

The only consistent target Jackson has had in Baltimore has been tight end Mark Andrews, yet Jackson still manages to be at the top of his game.

Since Jackson has become the face of the franchise, General Manager Eric DeCosta has unsuccessfully tried to find more than one effective weapon.

But this transaction is not riskless.

Jackson has suffered injuries that prematurely ended his season in back-to-back years.

Jackson has missed 11 games over the past two seasons, including last year’s Wild Card exit in Cincinnati.

I can understand why owners and GMs would be hesitant to sign the check Jackson is seeking, but they can also look at the Ravens without him.

Baltimore in those years was 8-13 without him.

While the price tag may look jarring at first glance, the NFL quarterback contracts are getting more lucrative each year.

The NFL will enter a new media rights agreement with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and Amazon worth about $110 billion over 11 years this year.

More money in the league means salary caps will expand and contracts will get larger and larger.

It would save money in the long haul if the Texans were to sign Jackson long-term instead of waiting four years to lock up this year’s rookie signal-caller.

Regardless of what you think of Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys signed him to a four-year, $160 million contract in March 2021.

At the time, the massive contract ranked as the second-highest deal in the league. Now, it ranks ninth.

Feel free to micromanage every aspect of his game, but the fact is that Jackson offers teams a much-better option than they already have.

While there are valid concerns, they shouldn’t cloud the Texans of the truth - that Lamar Jackson is among one of the best quarterbacks in football and if they can sign him, they would be foolish not to consider it.