The Houston Texans have had one of the best offseasons in franchise history, marked with trading up for star defensive end Will Anderson Jr out of Alabama following the number two overall selection of new franchise quarterback CJ Stroud. Could the Texans add on to the aggression and trade for Chase Young?
It's been one of the worst-kept secrets that the Washington commanders are open to trading one of their core defensive linemen, Montez Sweat or Young. In an article by SI, Albert Breer recently reported on the Commander's looming decision for the two edge stars.
""Chase Young's reporting to Commanders minicamp on Monday again highlights the situation Washington is in with its edge rushers. The Commanders have already paid Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen on the interior of the defensive line, and giving two more pass rushers, in Young and Montez Sweat, big contracts might be tough. So as Young tries to prove he can get healthy and back to himself again, he and Sweat might be competing for the last spot.""Albert Breer
They would love to keep all four of them, but the expense is piling up. Per Breer, the team will likely keep either Sweat or Young. The franchise has already invested $72M to defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and $11.5M of this year's cap is going to defensive end Montez Sweat, who the team recently exercised his fifth-year option on, and just gave a brand new $90M deal to defensive tackle Daron Payne. That's a lot of money tied up to the trenches of a middle-of-the-pack at best team. How long was that? Young has yet to make it easy for them to invest in, as his lack of availability led to the commanders declining to pick up the former defensive rookie of the year's fifth-year option.
The former number two overall pick had everything you would want in an edge defender but has struggled to stay healthy in his young NFL career. He has played in only 12 games since the start of the 2021 season, primarily due to the former Ohio State Buckeye tearing his ACL in November 2021.
With rumors swirling around his availability via the trade, Bleacher Report recently released an article revealing five trade packages teams could offer the commanders for Young's services. They propose the following trade for the Texans:
The article adds that the Texans may be giving up a top-75 selection, but the Texan's third-round pick for next year is currently the one they acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles, making it much less likely. However, if this were enough to get the trade done, I would happily do it if I was GM Nick Caserio.
While Young does come with some serious question marks to his future ability due to the injuries and the looming contract decision, the risk could be rewarded with the best pass-rushing duo in the NFL. The fact that he and Anderson would be in their prime would be icing on the cake. If DeMeco Ryans wants to build a hard-nosed defense, this could be a slam dunk barring a healthy recovery from Young.
What do you think? Would this be enough to obtain Young? What package would you be okay with the Texans sending, if at all, for the 24-year-old edge rusher? Join in on the conversation on our Toro Times Facebook page.