1 NFL team “in the mix” for Jimmy Garoppolo & Baker Mayfield

The 2022 NFL Draft gets underway Thursday evening but two current NFL players are expected to loom large over the proceedings, specifically in terms of whether or not either of them will be traded for draft picks.

Both Jimmy Garoppolo and Baker Mayfield are expected to be traded or released at some point in the near future by their respective teams, but the market seems to have dried up around them as most NFL teams have either cemented their QB plans or seem interested in drafting their QB of the future.

A lot of interesting things will play out starting this evening and will likely influence the way some NFL teams look at their quarterback situation. NFL insider Jeff Howe seems pretty sure that the Houston Texans won’t be drafting a quarterback with one of their early picks and, therefore, could be “in the mix” for either veteran signal-caller.

“The Texans are not expected to go QB with Nos. 3 and 13,” wrote Howe. “Lovie Smith likes the idea of double-dipping on defense unless the right offensive piece is there at 3 (Ekwonu?).

“The Texans do like Davis Mills, but I’d expect them [to] be in the mix for Jimmy Garoppolo or Baker Mayfield after the draft. Doesn’t sound like either QB has gotten close to getting traded yet, but the Texans, Seahawks, and Panthers should stay involved, pending their draft outcomes.”

It sounds a bit silly for the Texans and Cleveland Browns to do another quarterback trade when they just could have packaged Mayfield in their Deshaun Watson deal, to begin with. The unsaid assumption is that the Texans didn’t want Mayfield, though that might not actually be true. And if the price is right to roll the dice on Baker while you also have Davis Mills, why not?

The Panthers and Seahawks don’t seem overly thrilled to tip their hands over Mayfield, but depending on how the draft plays out, perhaps one of these three teams will make that deal, or trade for Garoppolo instead.

[Jeff Howe]