LeBron James is being recruited by NFL teams and he should listen: Six landing spots that would make sense

If LeBron James is looking for a new challenge after 23 years in the NBA, he might want to think about making a move to the NFL. The 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 pretty much a zero percent chance that James would leave the NBA, but NEVER SAY NEVER. Not only did James play football in high school, but he has mentioned in the past that he would like to give the NFL a try at some point, and at age 41, this seems like the final chance he'll ever get to make the leap. 

LeBron's history of playing football

James hasn't played organized football since his junior year in high school all the way back 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 where he caught 57 passes for 1,160 yards, and 16 touchdowns while leading his team to the state semifinals. James didn't end up playing football in 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 a football field. 

James is a huge football fan and he has mentioned often that he misses playing the sport. 

"I still love football to this day, man," James said back in 2021. "Just getting out there and playing, Friday night lights back in high school was something I enjoyed every Friday, so, it was definitely challenging and tough to walk away from the game and I still love it to this day."

Back in 2011, the Cowboys and Seahawks both offered to let James try out with them during the NBA lockout, but he decided to stick to basketball. However, it does seem like there's some mild regret there. 

"I always think about it," James said in 2021 of a potential football career.

James has said that he'd like to play in at least one NFL game at some point before it's over and this might be his last chance. 

James is an athletic freak, so even though he's 41, he could probably handle playing at least one season in the NFL. Although LeBron was a receiver in high school, there's no guarantee that would be his position in the NFL. Some teams might look to use him as a tight end, but playing receiver certainly wouldn't be out of the question. 

NFL teams that are 'recruiting' LeBron

As soon as it became clear that James wouldn't be returning to the Lakers, several NFL teams let the NBA's all-time leading scorer know that they would love to have him. 

The Jets decided to shoot their shot. 

The Jets could definitely use LeBron. It would actually give their fan base something to cheer about. 

The Bills also sent out a LeBron tweet. 

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 might explain why they also sent a tweet to LeBron. 

Houston wasn't the only AFC South team to take notice of 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 was potentially interested in signing with their team, things would get serious in an instant. 

Landing spots for LeBron

If LeBron is going to retire from the NBA so that he can play one year in the NFL, I think it's safe to say that he would only sign with a contender. The man isn't going to switch sports to play for a bad team. Yes, he grew up near Cleveland, and yes, he likes the Browns, but the Browns are bad, so they will not make the cut on this list of potential landing spots. 

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

Chargers or Rams. LeBron just spent the past eight years in Los Angeles playing for the Lakers, so he might like the idea of staying in L.A., which is why either of these teams would make sense. From a roster standpoint, the Chargers probably have a bigger need for LeBron. They had the third-worst red zone offense in the NFL last year and if there's one spot where LeBron could likely help the most, it's in the red zone. Justin Herbert could just throw the ball up to him and there aren't many defenders in the league who would be able to outjump LeBron. As for the Rams, Sean McVay is one of the smartest offensive minds in the NFL and you know that he'd have a special part of the playbook designed just for James.

Ravens. The Ravens have one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in the NFL in Lamar Jackson, but even with Jackson, this team couldn't score in the red zone last year. The Ravens scored a touchdown on just 47.46% of their red zone trips, which was tied with the Giants for the fifth-worst number in the NFL last year. With the loss of Isaiah Likely, the Ravens could certainly stand to add another big target and James would certainly fit that bill. Another reason this one would make sense is because James is a huge fan of Jackson. 

LeBron and Lamar with Derrick Henry in the backfield. That sounds like an unstoppable offense. 

Texans. The Texans sent out a tweet to James and it's easy to see why: They need all the offensive help they can get. The Texans do have a stacked receiver room, but Tank Dell is still coming back from a devastating injury and Nico Collins has had some trouble staying healthy. The Texans could also use James as a tight end, a spot they tried to add depth at this offseason by signing Foster Moreau and drafting Marlin Klein. C.J. Stroud has taken a small step back since taking the NFL by storm during his rookie year in 2023, but LeBron would probably be open to teaming up with him. 

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

Bengals. LeBron is an Ohio native and if he wants to play football for a Super Bowl contender in the Buckeye State, then the Bengals would certainly make some sense for him. The NBA superstar has been watching Joe Burrow closely since the quarterback's rookie year in 2020 and he 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 almost be unfair. With opposing offenses worried about the Bengals top two receivers, that could certainly 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, then signing on 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 he's going to be hell-bent on getting the Chiefs back their after a 2025 season where they finished 6-11 and LeBron knows that. 

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

Between Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the fact that Taylor Swift will likely be attending quite a few games, this is a team that probably doesn't need more star power, but let's go ahead and send James here anyway. 

I thought about putting the Cowboys as a landing spot, but LeBron seems to have had a falling out with them. 

One other thing for LeBron to consider is that if he makes the jump to the NFL, he would almost instantly get his name in the league record book. If LeBron catches just one pass for more than 6 yards, he would instantly hold the mark for the second-most receiving yards in NFL history for a player over 40. 

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

The NFL shared this tweet on June 30, which is the same day that it became clear that LeBron would be hitting free agency. 

If LeBron wants to end his NBA career in the most shocking way possible, heading to the NFL would 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 could use James' NFL stint as the tiebreaker. "Yea, they were about even, but James showed how good of an athlete he was by playing in the NFL. Jordan played minor league baseball."

The last player to play in both 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 permanently making a move to football. Grant spent 18 years coaching the Vikings and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994 and he proved the making the jump from the Lakers to the NFL can work out for you. 

The argument against LeBron making the move to the NFL is that he's still insanely productive in the NBA despite his age. LeBron is the only player in NBA history to average over 15 points per game in a season after turning 40 and he did that by averaging 20.9 points per game last season. 

LeBron making the move to the NFL would send shockwaves through the sports world, but let's be real, he'll likely be staying in the NBA and if you're wondering where he might end up, we've got some landing spots here.