Andre Johnson has been mentioned all offseason in trade rumors and now the Houston Texans are dealing with the idea of whether they should trade him and teams like the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, NY Jets and New Orleans Saints all are options that could be interested in making a trade and Bill O'Brien could pull off the trade if he decides to start rookie Tom Savage at some point over Ryan Fitzpatrick and rebuild this season.
Johnson is one of the best receivers in football and he has been upset this offseason with how the Texans have slipped from their perch as playoff contenders and eventually he could be traded. The Texans are not currently shopping Johnson, but he may force their hand eventually and a team like the Raiders or Browns could pull the trigger since they have the cap space. The Texans want to keep their star and they know that losing him could be a major factor next season as they try and bounce back with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tom Savage under center and new head coach Bill O'Brien also wants to keep as much talent on this roster as possible.
Johnson has stayed away from Texans team activities this offseason and he has said that he plans on keeping away from mandatory activities as well and that could force a trade from the Texans. According to ESPN.com, Johnson has not asked for a trade yet and is not demanding a new contract, but he is not happy with the way the offseason has gone and he also spoke about playing for his third head coach and did not sound too pleased about that either. Johnson has been a prolific receiver for the Texans and if he continues to stay away, it could force the team to make a move even though they likely want to keep him.
Johnson has been one of the most durable and productive wideouts in football history and he could be building a Hall of Fame career, but he is sick of losing. Johnson complained to the media that he has been to the playoffs just twice since coming into the league and now that the team has fallen off hard in the division, it could take a while to rebuild that back. The team went 2-14 last season and lost 14 games in a row to end the year after starting 2-0 and part of that is the reason why he is so disappointed. Johnson has nearly every record in the book for the Texans and fans would hate to see him get traded.
The Raiders and Browns are not the perfect examples of winning, but they have the cap space, while the Patriots could try and pull this move to put them even higher on the list of Super Bowl contenders. The team did that once with Randy Moss and they could use some age and experience at the position to help players like Josh Boyce, Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson develop. Johnson is rarely hurt and he is a very strong and smart receiver and likely would fit right into what Bill Belichick does.
