Will the Texans choose Jimmy Garoppolo over Davis Mills?

Is there a realistic chance the Houston Texans make a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo before training camp starts?

After the Houston Texans and the rest of the NFL saw Baker Mayfield be traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick, members of the national media put their focus toward the next quarterback with questions involving his current team.

That player is San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the 49ers will eventually have to make a decision on, whether that be trading him, releasing him, or keeping him on the roster.

Where do the Texans fit into this? Well, they might have some interest in “Jimmy G” as he does have ties with current Texans general manager Nick Caserio and others with Houston from their days with the New England Patriots.

Houston seems to keep anything about their roster close to their vest, but they’ve really never said that current quarterback — second-year player Davis Mills — is the long-term answer at the quarterback position, but as of right now before training camp has began, Mills is the QB1 of the franchise.

This offseason the Texans didn’t re-sign Tyrod Taylor and they traded Deshaun Watson, so by keeping the former third-round pick Mills, it seems he’s earned his chance to compete to stay the starting quarterback, as his play improved in his second stint as the starter in ’21, which were the final five games of the season.

Sure, Mills was winless in his first stint as the starter, but he took a lot of hits from opponents, and the offense wasn’t very good in ’21. Mills made the Texans’ offense better when he played in the final five games, but the questions is this … Is Garoppolo a better quarterback than Mills, and is he a better fit for Houston compared to Mills?

Texans: Should Houston stick with Mills in 2022?

If the Texans are serious about rebuilding their roster in 2022, they can’t trade away any of their valuable draft picks in the first two days of the 2023 NFL Draft because those picks with Mills mixed in are more valuable than Garoppolo. Aren’t they?

A plus for the Texans with Garoppolo is he has playoff experience, winning last season against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round, and that was a road win. There is also the fact Caserio and his former boss, Bill Belichick, had to have some faith in Garoppolo as they drafted him in New England.

As for a Pro Football Talk article by Mike Florio, he wrote this about Garoppolo joining the Texans in his potential trade article:

"“Plenty of connections exist between Garoppolo and the Texans executives who worked in New England when Garoppolo was there. Is he better than Davis Mills? Yes. The question is whether the Texans prefer to let Mills try to find a ceiling that could be higher than Garoppolo’s.”"

Taking a closer look at what Florio wrote, he mentions the connections with the front office of the Texans, and he says Garoppolo is better than Mills, but in all honesty that’s not fair to Mills because he’s getting his first opportunity to potentially be a Week 1 starter with a full training camp preparing for that role.

The smart move here would be for Houston to stick with Mills in 2022 and see how much he progresses in year two with the franchise. Then the Texans wouldn’t have to trade any draft capital to San Francisco, and if they are unhappy with Mills, the QB class of 2023 is said to be very talented.