What trading Duane Brown means for the Texans

The Houston Texans will need to look for a franchise left tackle now that Duane Brown has been traded.

It was quite a surprise when the news broke on Monday that the Houston Texans have traded left tackle Duane Brown to the Seattle Seahawks.

I honestly didn’t expect the Texans to trade their best offensive lineman, because they’ve now put themselves in an interesting position.

Chris Clark is the man

With Brown now gone, I would imagine that Chris Clark will be the starter at left tackle for the rest of the season as long as he stays healthy. He’s currently dealing with a calf injury. So we’ll have to see if Clark will be healthy enough to play this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

Clark’s overall grade from Pro Football Focus this season is 45.6. That’s not very encouraging.

The only reason the Texans can get away with having a subpar offensive line this season is because rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson is mobile and can evade pass rushers. When it comes to the long-term development of their offense, adding a premier left tackle would be ideal for Houston.

Texans’ top priority will be adding a left tackle in 2018

With Brown gone, the Texans will need to add a left tackle next offseason. The problem is that they won’t be able to use a first or second round draft pick on one, since they traded those picks away this past offseason.

The best move for the Texans will be to add a left tackle in free agency. One of the top left tackles that could hit the open market is Nate Solder of the New England Patriots. Of course there is a chance that he’ll re-sign with the Pats.

Next: Kevin Johnson is really bad according to PFF

Comment and give us your thoughts on the Texans trading Brown.