Report: Graham Mertz signs four-year deal with Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have signed former Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz to a four-year deal, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. According to Wilson, it’s a $4.934 million contract.
Mertz, who played two seasons at UF, was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The Texans took him with the No. 197 overall pick.
Mertz started three years at Wisconsin before transferring to Florida. As Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online noted, he “improved his draft stock in Gainesville, showing accuracy and avoiding interceptions. In 2023, Mertz ranked No. 3 nationally with a 72.9 completion percentage and threw just three picks, all of which were tipped passes. It was the fewest among SEC starting quarterbacks.”
Mertz finished the 2023 season with career highs in completions (261), passing touchdowns (20) passing yards (2,903), passing yards per game (263.9) and efficiency (157.8). And, he set program records for consecutive passes without an interception (239), consecutive passes completed (19) and completion percentage for a season and career (73.7). Mertz started 11 games in 2023 before his season-ending broken collarbone injury vs. Missouri.
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He sustained a concussion in the 2024 opener vs. Miami, returned to start four more games and then suffered a torn ACL in Game 6 at Tennessee. Five months after knee surgery, Mertz threw a 58-pass script at Florida’s Pro Day on March 27. He was invited to the NFL Combine but only did positional drills.
C.J. Stroud is the starting QB for Houston. Davis Mills is the current No. 2, but he is under contract for only one more season. The Texans signed Kedon Slovis in January so that is who Mertz likely will compete with for the third-string job. Houston obviously saw something in Mertz it liked. The Texans traded picks 216 and 241 to move up to 197 to get him.
“Mertz might be a third stringer or stashed on the practice squad as insurance in case they want to move on after the 2025 season,” wrote Battle Red Blog. “It’s not an inspired pick necessarily, but he certainly comes in with more college experience than Mills did when he was a rookie.”
signed sixth-round
