Houston Texans: Ranking each of Bill O’Brien’s trades as general manager

7. Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks for draft pick, 2 players

Just like the Hopkins trade this offseason, a lack of leverage in negotiations ultimately yielded a lesser haul than the player traded away. Jadeveon Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick in 2014, and despite never reaching the 10-sack plateau in any season with the Houston Texans, he was widely considered an elite player.

The most frustrating aspect of the situation was that the Texans and Bill O’Brien wanted to retain him, but were far apart in terms of compensation for a long term deal, which led to Clowney being franchise tagged.

Weeks before the 2019 NFL season, Clowney was traded to the Seahawks, who finagled their way into only giving up a third round pick, Jacob Martin, and Barkevious Mingo. Clowney only accrued 3.5 sacks throughout the year, but scored a touchdown and was one of their best defensive players all around with Seattle.

Martin broke out late in the year en route the same sack total in the regular season. Martin remains on the roster and looks to have an increased role, but Mingo had a harder time finding the field, and didn’t achieve much success.

Mingo was used primarily on special teams and is no longer with the team after signing with the Chicago Bears this offseason. Clowney remains a free agent and is apparently not receiving the kind of offers that he expected. Even if it was a one-year rental for a star player, Seattle won the trade.