NFL Draft rumors: Patriots trading Ryan Mallett to the Texans is ‘close’

Since the day the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick drafted Ryan Mallett out of Arkansas after he fell down the draft boards, it was just assumed that he wouldn’t be the successor to Tom Brady, rather he would eventually be built up by the coaching staff and used as trade bait down the road, and that time may be coming very soon.

According to Tom Curran of CSN New England, the Patriots are very close to a deal with the Houston Texans that would send Mallett to the state of Texas, giving new head coach Bill O’Brien his prototypical quarterback.

The terms of a potential deal are not known at this point, although as draft time approaches, more is sure to leak out.

Should Mallett land with the Texans by the time Thursday is over, though, that is not an indication that the team will pass on a quarterback in the draft. O’Brien himself has stated before that he might even consider taking two, although a deal for Mallett would only put the team in a position to take one at some point, realistically.