Tuesday was the final day teams could make trades and while the Houston Texans made one move, it wasn't what anyone expected.
Houston sent defensive tackle Khalil Davis to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Seeing them send off a player was a surprise since most predictions had them adding a guard, especially after losing Kenyon Green to a shoulder injury.
That led to some criticism but head coach DeMeco Ryans was quick to respond to that on Wednesday. He said that people often believe a trade is easy to pull off but he reminded reporters that it takes two willing parties to make a deal work.
“We have the guys we have,” Ryans told reporters via Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle. “Everybody thinks the trade deadline comes and you’re just going to find this guy that saves your team. I don’t see it that way. Transactions were made across the league. And there has to be two parties available to do a trade. Everybody is antsy about trades. It’s not just us going and taking somebody from another team. People have to be available and the trade has to be on good terms for everyone."
#Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was obviously bothered by the discussion around them not making a trade at the #NFL deadline. Here’s what he said: pic.twitter.com/NjDTlsCsoR
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) November 6, 2024
Ryans added that their absence of a move had nothing to do with failing to try. That's a believable statement since general manager Nick Caserio has been very aggressive in building this roster. Having said that, there were also reports that the team didn't believe they had the cap space to go after a sure-fire starter.
It's easy to get wrapped up as fans and expect a move but as Ryans said, it's not often a team can just find a "savior." Sure, there are times when a need aligns perfectly with someone being ready to move on from a player, but trading guards at the deadline isn't a common occurrence.
Houston did try and improve their roster still. They signed Jerome Calvin to the practice squad and tried out others, including La'el Collins. In the end, it appears they're going to roll with Jarrett Patterson and Kandrick Green.