Bill O’Brien’s management paints a terrible picture for Texans’ long term

The Houston Texans stock is plummeting with Bill O’Brien as the general manager.

The Houston Texans are losing any semblance they had as a respectable NFL franchise with the aftermath of the DeAndre Hopkins’ trade. Texans not only received an embarrassing haul for one of the premier receivers in the league but a few hours later, the Minnesota Vikings upstaged the Texans by receiving a bounty of draft picks from the Buffalo Bills for Stefon Diggs.

Diggs is a great receiver in his merit, but he is still a tier below the player Hopkins has been for the last few seasons. The Texans not only got pennies on the dollar for Hopkins, but they also created a need at a position that used to be a strength. Texans signed Randall Cobb, but they will need more talent to replace the impact that Hopkins had on the field for the offense.

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The Texans’ ownership way of operating has shifted drastically since Bob McNair passed away, and Cal McNair took a more prominent role within the organization. Texans are on their second general manager after ownership parted ways with Rick Smith and have traded two former Pro Bowlers since O’Brien was appointed as the new general manager.

Houston has traded away three Pro Bowlers in the last three seasons, and have felt the consequences in the aftermath. Since trading Duane Brown under Rick Smith, the Texans surrendered a season-high 62 sacks the following season, and it resulted in O’Brien mortgaging their early draft picks in the next two drafts to acquire Laremy Tunsil.

A similar story occurred when O’Brien decided to trade Jadeveon Clowney before this previous season started, the defense suffered as they were unable to generate sufficient pressure against the quarterback or contain the run when J.J. Watt was hurt. Teams zeroed in on Whitney Mercilus and lived with the consequences of other defenders trying to beat them.

Now Houston will be back on the market for an edge rusher to replace Clowney. The Texans will have to find a player of a similar caliber, so the team doesn’t struggle once the season is underway.

Losing talented players will yield to an underwhelming team. It isn’t rocket science, but O’Brien and the front office will have to stop burning bridges in order to become a better team.

Texans are creating a terrible image on the external for free agents and could be on their way to be one of the laughingstocks of the league if they continue down this road.