As the draft nears, New England is reportedly close to a trade that would send backup quarterback Ryan Mallett to the Texans.

Late Thursday afternoon CSNNE.com reported, via Twitter, that "Ryan Mallett to the Texans may soon be done."

Mallett is a former third-round pick entering his fourth season, the final year of his rookie contract. Houston now has former Patriots offensive coordinator/QB coach Bill O'Brien as its head coach, and it's certainly possible that familiarity is behind this reported deal.

Houston holds the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and there has been speculation for weeks as to whether the team would use that selection on a franchise quarterback.

CSNNE followed up with another tweet, clarifying that "Not a done deal at all but the machinations have begun."

A few minutes later, CSNNE added yet another, contradictory update to its original reporting, "Second source says nothing doing at the moment on Mallett to Houston. We'll watch how it plays out. Makes sense if Clowney is No. 1."

Both the Boston Globe and NFL Network got into the Mallett reporting as well. Each confirmed there were discussions, with NFLN tweeting, "There is no deal between the Patriots and the Texans for Ryan Mallett. But the interest from Houston and Bill O'Brien is real. #Staytuned"

Do you like the idea of trading Mallett? Would you be concerned about the backup QB job? Let us know with a comment below!