ESPN boldly predicts Texans will trade for future Hall of Famer

The Houston Texans are in a great spot moving forward. They're years ahead of schedule after striking gold with DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud in year one where the Texans finished as AFC South champs and won a playoff game. Now they have plenty of cap space to work with and can put it to good use building around this talented team.

Aaron Schatz of ESPN wrote a column where he made bold predictions for every team this offseason and for the Texans, he said they'd trade for Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack.

"Mack, who just turned 33, had 17 sacks last season for the Chargers and he would come with a huge contract. He has a $38.5 million cap number, and the Chargers are nearly $46 million over the cap for 2024. Trading Mack before June 1 would save them over $23 million in cap space.

The Texans, on the other hand, have $57 million in cap space. They also have the space to bring Mack in with starting edge rusher Jonathan Greenard hitting free agency. Imagine Mack playing opposite Will Anderson Jr., with opponents able to double-team only one of them. It probably wouldn't cost the Texans a very high draft pick while bringing a big addition to their defense."

- Aaron Schatz

Texans bolster defense by trading for Khalil Mack

The Chargers are in cap hell this offseason, currently sitting $25 million under the cap, and will need to clear space if they want to get in a better position financially. The Texans, on the other hand, have $67 million to work with. They could easily afford to take on Mack's contract.

As Schatz noted in the blurb above, Mack had 17 sacks for the Chargers in 2023 after four straight years with single-digit sacks. He showed that he has plenty remaining in the tank and the Texans could use a ferocious pass rusher to pair up with Will Anderson Jr. Imagine how fun that'd be!

This should be an exciting offseason for the Texans and while trading for Mack might seem like a bold prediction, I'm not so sure that it is. He'd make a lot of sense in this defense and could make this Texans defense even scarier moving forward.