Rick Smith Denies Houston Texans Have Talked To New England Patriots About Acquiring Ryan Mallett

Two months ago, there was talk that the Houston Texans were trying to acquire Ryan Mallett from the New England Patriots. A week and a half later, the Texans signed Ryan Fitzpatrick and the rumors died.

Until yesterday, when they reappeared thanks to a report from CSN New England's Tom E. Curran.

A few minutes ago, at Jadeveon Clowney's introductory press conference, Texans general manager Rick Smith squashed the Mallett-to-Houston talk again.

Executive VP/GM Rick Smith said the Texans have not had any conversations with the New England Patriots about quarterback Ryan Mallett.

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 9, 2014

Rick Smith on Ryan Mallet rumors: We have not been in any conversations with the NE Patriots. #Texans

— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) May 9, 2014

Rick Smith says the #Texans have not had any conversations with the New England Patriots about trading Ryan Mallett.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) May 9, 2014

Is the story dead? Is it simply more smoke as the Texans head into the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft? Does any of this have any bearing on whether the Texans will select a QB in the second or third round tonight?