Reviewing the choice to trade draft picks for QB and financial flexibility
By Jair Lopez
The Houston Texans will be in a position to be a playoff contender in 2018.
Despite the widespread notion throughout the media that Texans did wrong in giving up their 2018 first and second round draft choices to the Cleveland Browns.
The Texans are a better team because of it.
Their record of 4-11 certainly does not support my take initially, but let us review the facts:
The Texans offense remained catatonic and Brock Osweiler had an underwhelming season with the Houston Texans in 2016.
His poor relationship with head coach Bill O’Brien and inability to move the offense downfield led to his imminent departure from Houston.
However, early in the 2017 off-season, the Texans traded their 2018 second rounder to the Browns for reasons more commonly seen in the NBA., cap relief.
The Texans ended up only paying 57 percent of the guaranteed money owed to Osweiler.
Houston agreed to pay $21 million instead of $37 million guaranteed upon signing.
In addition to having cleared $16 million off the books, the Texans managed to secure some of their impending free agents.
- DeAndre Hopkins
- C.J. Fiedorowicz
- Jay Prosch
- Andre Hal
General manager Rick Smith and the front office cannot be faulted for being aggressive in free agency and pursuing a quarterback.
They swung and they missed, luckily for them they managed to cut ties with a bad investment without it affecting their long term future.
The Texans only had to surrender their first round draft choice in 2018 to jump from the 25th spot to 12th in the 2017 NFL Draft and select quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Incoming Draft Picks
Despite giving up their first two draft choices, the Texans have an incoming compensatory draft pick that will most likely be a third round pick due to the impact cornerback A.J. Bouye had with Jacksonville Jaguars.
The trade that sent Duane Brown to the Seattle Seahawks netted a third round draft pick in 2018 and second rounder in 2019. The Seahawks will get the Texans fifth rounder in 2018.
The Texans will have three third round picks, a fourth, sixth, and a seventh in the 2018 NFL Draft.
This is not including the possible compensatory picks they can get due to other Texans free agents that departed in 2017.
Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker John Simon and Chicago Bears safety Quintin Demps can retrieve mid to late round draft picks.
So despite what the national media wants you to believe, the Texans have enough ammunition to trade up in the first or second round in the 2018 NFL Draft.