Houston Texans: Three points why team should trade Tom Savage now

The Houston Texans have an interesting situation on their hands, a valuable and unused asset that they can flip for some value so they’ve got to make the move.

What am I talking about? I’m referring Tom Savage, our quarterback that was destined to be the Houston Texans starter this season but has been relegated to the bench. As we all know, this wasn’t necessarily his fault. Let me tell you something, Savage got beat up to no end against the Jacksonville Jaguars back in Week 1. Calais Campbell continued to have his way with him, getting 3.5 sacks off of him alone.

Why was this the case? Savage isn’t a mobile quarterback to the extent of him being afraid to run in light of him being injured once again. We know how fragile that he can be and he’s doing everything to stay healthy. This season is make-or-break for Savage as he’s on the last leg of his four-year, $2.52 million rookie deal that he inked back in 2014.

Tom must have a solid season in order to continue to play in this league but the fact that he’s sitting on the bench not being utilized is hurting his value. Let me tell you, barring injury, there’s absolutely no way that Savage gets back on the field. Bill O’Brien has made his bed by unleashing Deshaun Watson early and now he’ll have to ultimately lie in it. You certainly don’t want to kill the rising confidence of our phenom by sending him back to the bench.

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And lest we not forget that Savage’s agent, Neil Schwartz, took his counterpoints in regard to the quick-trigger move to the media last week indicating that it “made no sense.” For all intents and purposes, Schwartz is right. You have a valuable asset that’s sitting on the bench that one is not using and could be flipped for some value. Yes, I know he’s a person but for the objective of this piece, we have to look at him in the way an accountant would view a piece of a equipment to do a particular task.

Savage is still a solid quarterback but he must have a clean pocket to be successful. Our offensive line is close to the worst — if not the worst — in the league right now. The reason why mention that aforementioned caveat is because after seeing the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive line last week, I think they can easily give us for a run for their money as well.

Savage was 7-for-13 for 62 yards with no touchdowns and interceptions plus the throws he was able to make around the tremendous amount of pressure he took were solid. After just 31 snaps as officially the Houston Texans quarterback to start the season, his tenure is likely over quicker than the shake of a lamb’s tail.

What should we get out of the deal? I had conversation with my Robert Land, co-host for my pod Locked on Texans about this and we agreed that value such as second or third round pick would be amicable. I think a receiver thrown in the pot to help out this underwhelming core that we have now could be possibilities in exchange for Savage.

I also feel the New York Jets would be a solid trade partner as they have their third and fourth-round picks next season and I’d even have them dangle Jeremy Kerley in the deal. We’ve already flipped our first and second-round pick for 2018 so it’d be nice to get a high one back.

Any way, Kerley make $775,000 this season and although he’s only been targeted three times, he has caught every one of those said targets for 14 yards — 4.7 yards per catch — indicating there’s potential there if he has the opportunity. His contract also expires after this season making this scenario a manageable gamble. I’m not saying he’s a “must-have” guy but a nice throw-in to a Savage package with a high pick.

Kerley has 249 catches for 2,906 yards in his career — 11.7 yards per catch — so I’d wonder if they’d pry him loose in addition to the pick.

The Jets’ quarterback situation continues to be in flux with Josh McCown, Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg and McCown hasn’t particularly played all that well.

I’d love to snag Petty or Hackenberg from them but their price would be higher and although none of those guys have the talent Watson does, we shouldn’t make things look like a competition. But they’d be solid backups.

But who backs up Watson? This should be the least of worries. The Houston Texans can re-sign Brandon Weeden — he still can sling it well — or even T.J. Yates as both are free agents. Yates availability may not quite certain just yet as he suffered a concussion in late last month, just before training camp ended with the Buffalo Bills. The team cut Yates after the uncertainty of his ability to heal quick enough and their confidence in rookie Nathan Peterman to back up — possibly supplant — Tyrod Taylor rising.

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But all-in-all, I know Savage feels he should be out there but I can’t praise him enough about how good of sport he has been about all of this because he doesn’t have to. But he took the high road and this will likely land him a job elsewhere in this football league to finally get his shot on a level playing ground. But we’ll have to see as I still continue to root for his success.

Savage, 27, has passed 63-for-105 for 650 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception in his four seasons with the team.

Go Houston Texans.

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