While the Houston Texans are not likely to trade veteran quarterback Davis Mills anytime soon, there are reportedly teams around the league that are interested, and they could make a hard push for him as the season gets closer.
The Houston Texans are in the midst of a major overhaul heading into the 2023 NFL season. In the fallout of the Deshaun Watson scandal that rocked the franchise and the league, it has taken the organization two years to find some new footing and an organized direction going forward.
In the spring they made a move to change their culture by ending their relationship with head coach Lovie Smith and chose to replace him with highly-touted defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. In April they took another big step in remodeling the brand by selecting QB CJ Stroud with the second pick overall in the 2023 NFL Draft to be their next franchise signal-caller.
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However, there are still remnants of previous eras of the team, including the player that replaced Watson as starting quarterback, Davis Mills.
The third-year player was given a legitimate chance to prove he could be the new face of the franchise over the last two seasons, but he did not deliver impressive results. With Stroud on the roster, his time leading the offense is near its end. However, there are still some around the league who see an upside in the former third-round pick.
On Tuesday, KPRC Houston Texans reporter Aaron Wilson revealed that “teams have interest” in Davis Mills, yet the team is not willing to trade him at this time. However, as injuries occur and the season nears, that could always change if the Texans have confidence in Stroud as their starter for 2023.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at three teams that could continue to show interest in a Davis Mills trade before the start of the new NFL season.
Las Vegas Raiders
Jimmy Garapollo is not expected to be a long-term answer for the Las Vegas Raiders. While rumors suggested they might take a quarterback with their top draft pick, or even trade up for one, they went in a different direction on night one of the event. With Mills still being young, head coach Josh McDaniels could give up a later-round draft asset on him as a long-term project for the team at a cheap cost.
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals will be without QB Kyler Murray for the first half of the season and have some rough options to replace him to start the season. While Mills isn’t a star player, he has experience and is a better option than the likes of Colt McCoy and Clayton Tune. Mills could be a serious consideration for Arizona to try and keep them around .500 over the first half of the season.
Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins is only signed for one more season and there is no indication the team is willing to give him another massive long-term deal. If the Vikings are looking to start plans for life after Cousins, they could make a trade for the Houston Texans player to serve as a solid backup in 2023. With the chance to throw to a superstar talent like Justin Jefferson, maybe Mills could flourish in Minny in ways he couldn’t in Houston.