Could a former Houston Texans GM be joining a division rival?

A former Houston Texans general manager could be joining the Jaguars.

The Houston Texans might have one of their former general manager’s working for AFC South rival Jacksonville, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote “he wouldn’t be surprised” if the next stop for the most successful GM in Texans franchise history – Rick Smith – is in Jacksonville with the Jaguars’ front office.

Though it wasn’t said what capacity Smith would be taking if he were to even join the Jaguars in this scenario that La Canfora thought of, but it would make things interesting in the AFC South, as like the Texans, the Jaguars are also rebuilding their franchise.

Here is part of what La Canfora wrote about Smith and the Jaguars in his NFL Insider column:

"“I wouldn’t be shocked if that ended up including longtime former Texans general manager Rick Smith in some capacity. Smith is universally respected within the game and at the NFL league office, he has decades of experience, and in recent years was considered for a top position with Washington and elsewhere.”"

If any former general manager deserves a front office job in ’22, it is Rick Smith, as he was a huge part of building the Texans franchise into a competitive team when he was with the franchise. Smith was the Houston general manager from 2006-17 and the executive vice president of the Texans as well (2012-17).

Houston Texans: Smith has some success GM; his teams won 4 AFC South titles

During his times as general manager/executive vice president of the Houston Texans, Smith’s teams had an overall record of 92-100 with four AFC South championships (’11, ’12, ’15, ’16) and two second-place finishes (’09, ’14), plus they were third place two times (’08, ’10) and last place four times (’06, ’07, ’13, ’17).

The Texans were also 3-4 in the playoffs in that span, but never advanced further than the divisional round of the playoffs.

All of that said, Smith was a big part in making the Texans a viable NFL franchise, and his teams brought in players like J.J. Watt, Arian Foster, Whitney Mercilus, Kareem Jackson, Brian Cushing and Duane Brown, to name just a few players.

If Smith were to join the Jaguars, it would be a big move for them, and he would be a huge help with some decision making with their franchise as he probably wouldn’t have drafted a running back in the first round like the Jaguars have been known to do.

Again, this is all just a thought of La Canfora in his NFL Insider column, but it isn’t such a bad idea for the Jaguars to be looking into. Though the Texans aren’t the same franchise since Smith was here, and the Texans have a general manager in place, Smith to Jacksonville in a front office role would make the rivalry a little more fun when Houston and Jacksonville played.

The AFC South as a whole would be better for it if Smith joins Jacksonville, because Smith would help make the Jaguars a better football organization, forcing the rest of the division to be better too and not let the Jaguars pass them in the standings anytime soon.