The Best Vacancy

By Mike Rifkin

There are currently five head coaching vacancies in the NFL. Vacancies in Arizona, Carolina, Denver, Houston, and Indianapolis. Now for me, there is one job that stands out. 

The Houston Texans’ job is the one that stands out. First, I cannot entirely agree with how the front office handled the last two seasons with David Culley and Lovie Smith. Both guys took the job, and everyone on the outside knew they weren’t the long-term solution. Now I am going to give Lovie Smith much credit. The Texans played hard down the stretch, including competitive games against the Chiefs and Cowboys and an upset win at rival Titans. 

This job is appealing for a few reasons, one of which is the package they got in the Deshaun Watson trade. The Texans acquired the Browns’ first-round picks in In 2022,23, and 24 in exchange for Watson. The Texans will have 11 picks in the 2023 NFL draft, including number two and twelve in the first round. They might get more picks out of trades. One player who has been subject to trade rumors is Brandin Cooks. Cooks led the team with 57 catches and 699 yards in 13 games this season. 

Most insiders believe that the second overall pick will be a quarterback. Whether it’s CJ Stroud or Bryce Young, the new coach can get his choice of which one he’d prefer to have. 

The Texans do have some young talent. Running Back Dameon Pierce would’ve had 1,000 yards rushing if not for an injury at the end of the season. Rookie defensive backs Derek Stingley Jr. and Jalen Pitre had excellent rookie seasons. As bad as people make the Texans out to be, they only had a -1 turnover differential. The Texans will have 11 picks in the draft and 41 million dollars in cap space, the fifth most in the NFL and the highest of any team looking for a new coach. So a new coach can use the draft and free agency to help a roster that will need it. 

The biggest reason the Texans’ job is the best is not just the cap space or the number of picks. It’s the fact that you’re not tied to anyone. Look at Arizona. Whoever goes there is tied to Kyler Murray because of his extension last year; if you take the Denver job, you’re tied to Russell Wilson based on his contract. Now both are good quarterbacks, but Russ is coming off his worst season as a pro, and Kyler tore his ACL, and we need to see how the recovery is going. My question is, how patient are the owners going to be? At least in Houston, they can preach patience if there’s a plan.