Lamar Jackson Trade to Texans for No. 2 Pick Proposed by ESPN

The suggested trade package would feature Houston receiving the 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson along with the Ravens' No. 22 overall pick in exchange for the No. 2 pick and change. An ESPN fantasy?

In fairness to this project at ESPN that would bring quarterback Lamar Jackson to the Houston Texans, author Bill Barnwell's entire effort here is about putting together one 2023 NFL Mock Draft with a special twist - with every team executing a hypothetical trade with their selection. 

And at the No. 2 pick, which the Texans presently own, he pushes for a bold and headline-stealing hypothetical deal for Houston, with GM Nick Caserio somehow acquiring the former MVP from the Baltimore Ravens.

What are the details of the "somehow''? The suggested trade package would feature Houston receiving the 2019 NFL MVP Jackson along with the Ravens' No. 22 overall pick in exchange for the No. 2 pick, plus No. 73, plus a 2024 fourth-round conditional selection.

So - and not to ignore the fact that third-day picks have a certain value, but - Houston swaps 2 for 22 and gets Lamar? Contract issues aside ... Where do we sign up?

The Ravens put the tag on Jackson in a way that locks him into $32 million guaranteed for 2023; he hasn't signed that yet as he seeks a contract more similar to the one the Browns gave ex-Texans QB Deshaun Watson. They also put the tag on him knowing that if another team got him to sign an offer sheet, Baltimore could let him go while receiving two first-round picks. The Ravens did that knowing full well that either a) no team was going to do that and/or b) they would simply match whatever new deal Jackson had agreed to elsewhere.

In the real world, would a massive contract for Lamar in Houston be a problem? We say no. Just as Watson was worth one here before, Jackson - who is just 26 and is about as much of a "franchise quarterback'' as anyone in the NFL this side of Patrick Mahomes - would be a marvelous solution. ... and the Houston build would be greatly accelerated.

Alas, in the real world, Baltimore isn't giving up Lamar Jackson for what amounts to a swap of first-round picks, leaving Houston, presently owning picks Nos. 2 and 12, to attempt to find their next "franchise QB'' in a more conventional and less fantastical way.

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