Houstons Texans Should Look To Trade For Alshon Jeffery
By Yoni Pollak
The Houston Texans need wide receiver help. Whether that be today, in a year from now or even five weeks ago, the Texans do need wide receiver help.
Lucky for the Texans, one football team appears to be going through a firesale. The Chicago Bears have already traded Jared Allen and Jonathan Bostic, and in a league where we see few big trades, it sounds like the Bears may be willing to listen to offers for both Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery.
Now, as much as I like Forte as a running back, the Texans simply don’t need him. However, Alshon Jeffery is someone the Texans could certainly use opposite DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins is already one of the bright young receivers in the league, as is Jeffery. The 2012 2nd rounder has already spent much of his career playing opposite Brandon Marshall and has looked good in his 3+ years in the NFL. Jeffery has 174 receptions, 2,554 receiving yards, and 17 total touchdowns in the last two seasons (’13 and ’14) combined.
The 25-year old is an impending free agent and the Bears may not want to re-sign him, thus trying to trade him for as much as they can before this year’s trade deadline. The Texans would be wise to jump on this opportunity to trade for a Pro Bowl talent in Jeffery.
After releasing Andre Johnson earlier this offseason, the Texans signed Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington, and drafted Jaelen Strong and Keith Mumphrey to overhaul their receiver unit. Through the first four games of the season, Shorts and Washington haven’t done too much, Strong has been inactive and Mumphrey has had his ups-and-downs.
Regardless of how you feel about Shorts and Washington, the fact is they are not long-term options, and it’s very possible that neither of them are in Houston past this season. Strong looked good in the preseason but will likely only see his first game action this season. Mumphrey is probably better suited as a bench receiver.
With the future of our receivers not looking too “hot” behind Hopkins, trading for Jeffery would do wonders for our receiving unit and for the offense. Jeffery would give Ryan Mallett a legitimate #2 option and would force defenses to defend both receivers.
I asked Troy Chapman from texanscap.com to give us his thoughts on how the Texans cap situation would change with a trade for Jeffery. Here’s what he had to say:
"At this point in the season, the Texans would be responsible for 12 weeks of salary totaling $677,785. Jeffrey does not have any additional bonuses in his contract; the remaining salary amount would also be the cap charge for Jeffrey for the Texans. The Texans currently have approximately $3.55 million in available team cap space so this would move would have a very minimal affect on the remaining space.History has shown that contract value & trade assets are inverse of each other. Jeffrey has shown to be a productive wide receiver in the NFL thus far. A trade for a young wide receiver on a rookie contract would likely require a mid-round draft pick, quite possibly a day two draft pick. That is a tough amount to trade away for a team that is still turning over their roster, like Houston is currently doing.The Texans would also need to likely negotiate a contract extension with Jeffrey upon his arrival as well. The Texans have a long-standing rule on no contract negotiations during the regular season. It is very likely that Jeffrey would not want to discuss an extension, but rather wait until the free agency market will bear in March 2016. Jeffrey would not get a top tier contract, however he would be in-line for a contract similar to Torrey Smith or Eric Decker. Such a contract would likely average $8 – $9 million per year with a guarantee over $12 million. A contract of this amount would have cap charges of $4 – $5 million each in the first two years.The Texans are likely to open the 2016 season with approximately $30 million in available cap space. The team will also be looking to complete a contract extension for the #1 wideout in DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins will command a deal beyond that of what Jeffrey will command. The Texans would need to complete contract extensions on two high level wide receivers; while still addressing possible extensions for Brandon Brooks & Jared Crick."
More from Houston Texans
- Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
- Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
- Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame
- Houston Rockets and Texans: Two different coaches with one glaring similarity
- Houston Texans: DeAndre Hopkins and the Patrick Ewing Theory
So it’s certainly possible the Texans could trade for Jeffery and it really wouldn’t change much their cap situation for the future. Sure, they may be spending a nice chunk of change on two receivers, but their eventual new starting quarterback – whenever the Texans may decide to draft one – will need some weapons and Hopkins and Jeffery would be a dynamic duo.
And as far as the cap situation goes, the Texans really don’t have many impending free agents, as Troy also mentioned. Brandon Brooks and Jared Crick lead a group that also include Ben Jones and Shane Lechler as other impending free agents they may want to re-sign.
So if the Texans want Jeffery, they can make it happen. However, trades are very unlikely in the NFL and the Texans may opt to keep their options open as they continue through the 2015 season.
Click here for all the latest on the Houston Texans.
Next: Texans Out-Everything'd By Falcons