LeBron James is being recruited by NFL teams and should be listening: Six potential landing spots.

If LeBron James is looking for a new challenge after 23 years in the NBA, he might want to consider a move to the NFL. Four-time NBA champion officially hit free agency this week and several NFL teams have already made their pitch to him on social media.

Sure, there’s a good chance James will leave the NBA, but NEVER SAY NEVER. Not only did James play football in high school, but he has said in the past that he would like to try the NFL at some point, and at age 41, this seems like the last chance he will ever get to make the leap.

LeBron’s football history

James hasn’t played professional football since his junior year of high school in 2001, so he might be a little rusty, but he was a star when he was on the field. During his junior year at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, James was named first-team All-State in Ohio after a season in which he caught 57 passes for 1,160 yards, and 16 touchdowns while leading his team to the state semifinals. Not only did James play football his senior year, but despite that, he still finished his high school career with 108 catches for 2,065 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Being 6-foot-9 makes you almost unstoppable on the football field.

James is a huge football fan and has said many times that he misses playing the game.

“I still love football to this day, man,” James said in 2021. “Just going out and playing, Friday night lights back in high school was something I enjoyed every Friday, so, it was challenging and difficult to get out of the game and I still love it to this day.”

Back in 2011, the Cowboys and Seahawks both asked James tried with them during the NBA lockout, but decided to stick to basketball. However, there seems to be little regret there.

“I’m always thinking about it,” James said in 2021 about a possible football career.

James said he would like to play in at least one NFL game at some point before it’s over and this could be his last chance.

James is an athletic giant, so even though he’s 41, he’s likely to be able to play at least one season in the NFL. Although LeBron graduated from high school, there is no guarantee that it will be his position in the NFL. Other teams may look to use him as a tight end, but playmaking receiver certainly won’t be out of the question.

NFL teams ‘recruit’ LeBron

As soon as it became clear that James would not return to the Lakers, several NFL teams let the NBA’s leading scorer know that they would like to have him.

The Jets decided to fire their shot.

The Jets couldn’t use LeBron. It would actually give their fans something to be happy about.

The Bills retweeted LeBron.

Josh Allen would probably enjoy having LeBron in the red zone and we know LeBron would probably enjoy playing with Allen.

The Texans have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but their offense could use some help, which may explain why they tweeted LeBron.

Houston wasn’t the only AFC South team that noticed LeBron hitting free agency.

And finally, we have the Packers.

Yes, these teams are all just having fun on social media, but if LeBron actually called them and said he might be interested in signing with their team, things would get serious in no time.

Places to stay in LeBron

If LeBron is going to retire from the NBA so he can play one year in the NFL, I think it’s safe to say he’ll only sign with a contender. A man will not change sports to play for a bad team. Yes, he grew up near Cleveland, and yes, he loves the Browns, but the Browns are bad, so they won’t make the cut on this list of potential destinations.

With that in mind, here are six teams that should call up LeBron:

Chargers or Rams. LeBron just spent the last eight years in Los Angeles playing for the Lakers, so he would like the idea of ​​staying in LA, which is why one of these teams would make sense. From a roster perspective, the Chargers probably have the biggest need for LeBron. They had the third worst red zone offense in the NFL last year and if there’s one area where LeBron can help the most, it’s in the red zone. Justin Herbert can throw the ball to him and there aren’t many defenders in the league who can outrun LeBron. As for the Rams, Sean McVay is one of the smartest minds in the NFL and knows he will have a special part of the playbook designed just for James.

Crows. The Ravens have one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the NFL in Lamar Jackson, but even with Jackson, the team couldn’t score in the red zone last year. The Ravens scored a touchdown on just 47.46% of their red zone drives, which was tied with the Giants for fifth-worst in the NFL last year. With the loss of Isaiah Likely, the Ravens can certainly step up and add another big point and Jacob will fit that bill. Another reason why this makes sense is that James is a huge Jackson fan.

LeBron and Lamar and Derrick Henry back. That sounds like an unstoppable charge.

Texas. The Texans sent a tweet to James and it’s easy to see why: They need all the offensive help they can get. The Texans have a stacked receiver room, but Tank Dell is still coming back from a serious injury and Nico Collins has had trouble staying healthy. The Texans could also use James as a tight end, a position they tried to add depth to this offseason by signing Foster Moreau and drafting Marlin Klein. CJ Stroud has taken a bit of a step back since taking the NFL by storm in his first year in 2023, but LeBron may be open to partnering with him.

Stroud could use some help in the red zone. The Texans scored a touchdown on just 45.9% of their red zone drives last year, which was fourth worst in the NFL.

The Bengalis. LeBron is an Ohio native and if he wants to play for Super Bowl football in the Buckeye State, the Bengals will make some sense. The NBA star has been watching Joe Burrow closely since the quarterback’s rookie year in 2020 and seems to like what he’s seen so far.

The Bengals already have Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and adding LeBron to that would probably be unfair. With opposing offenses worried about the Bengals’ top two receivers, that could open things up for LeBron to put up big numbers in Cincinnati.

Chiefs. If LeBron wants to win a Super Bowl in his only NFL season, signing to play with Patrick Mahomes would make a lot of sense. The Chiefs quarterback has led Kansas City to the Super Bowl in five of the past seven seasons and will be determined to get the Chiefs back after the 2025 season where they finished 6-11 and LeBron knows it.

And let’s not forget, James has been watching Mahomes for several years now.

Between Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the fact that Taylor Swift will likely attend a few games, this is a team that probably doesn’t need more star power, but let’s still send James here anyway.

I thought about putting the Cowboys as a destination, but LeBron seems to have it there was an argument with them.

Another thing LeBron has to consider is that if he makes the jump to the NFL, he’ll probably just get his name in the league’s record book. If LeBron catches just one pass for more than 6 yards, he will tie the mark for the second-most receiving yards in NFL history by a player over the age of 40.

Speaking of Jerry Rice, the NFL recently shared a clip of how successful Rice was at age 42, which may or may not have been a message to James that he could still be a productive football player at that time.

The NFL shared the tweet on June 30, the same day it became clear that LeBron would hit free agency.

If LeBron wants to end his NBA career with a bang, heading to the NFL will definitely be the way to do it. And not to mention, every time someone decides to have an NBA debate about whether the best player ever was Michael Jordan or LeBron James, we can use James’ NFL stint as the best player. “Yeah, they were almost equal, but James showed how good of a player he was by playing in the NFL. Jordan played minor league baseball.”

The last player to play in the NBA and NFL in their professional career was Bud Grant. The Pro Football Hall of Famer spent three seasons with the Minneapolis Lakers (1949-51) before moving on permanently. Grant spent 18 years coaching the Vikings and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994 and proved that making the jump from the Lakers to the NFL can work for you.

The argument against LeBron moving on to the NFL is that he is still insanely productive in the NBA despite his age. LeBron is the only player in NBA history to average more than 15 points per game in a season after turning 40 and he did so by averaging 20.9 points per game last season.

LeBron going to the NFL will send shockwaves around the world, but let’s be honest, he’ll probably stay in the NBA and if you’re wondering where he might end up, I have destinations here.