11;13am: The Texans will get a conditional seventh-round draft choice that could turn into a sixth-round pick depending on how much playing time the quarterback sees, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
11:08am: Fitzpatrick confirmed to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter) that he has been traded to the Jets.
11:00am: The Texans will trade Fitzpatrick to the Jets for a late-round conditional pick, a league source confirms to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
8:49am: After having missed out on Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer, the Jets have been repeatedly linked to Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, and it appears the team is moving closer to acquiring him.
According to Albert Breer and Kimberley Jones of the NFL Network (Twitter link), a trade between the Jets and Texans could be completed quickly once Houston officially locks up Hoyer. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that the Jets are expected to send the Texans a late-round draft pick for Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick, 32, started 12 games for the Texans last season, and his performance was passable. He completed 63.1% of his passes, posted a 95.3 passer rating, and threw 17 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. However, with Hoyer heading to Houston, Ryan Mallett returning to the team, and 2014 draftee Tom Savage also in the mix, Fitzpatrick wasn’t in the Texans’ long-terms plans.
Assuming the Jets are able to finalize an agreement for Fitzpatrick, the veteran signal-caller would likely compete with Geno Smith for the team’s 2015 starting job. Having already traded away their fifth- and sixth-round picks for 2015, the Jets would likely give up a seventh-rounder in a Fitzpatrick deal, and even that pick could be conditional, depending on how much playing time he earns in New York.
With one year and $3.25MM left on his contract, Fitzpatrick would be fairly priced for the Jets, considering what the market for backup quarterbacks is like these days. The Eagles, for instance, recently sign Mark Sanchez to a two-year deal that averages $4.5MM even before incentives.