Who Fed It And Who Ate It: 2019 Preseason Week 4
Well, the Bubble Wrap game has been played and teams have cut their respective rosters to 53 players. Now, a bumper crop of trades have transpired as teams look to fill holes before Kickoff Weekend. But one team made... a curious pair of transactions, as...
The Houston Texans made two trades that extricated themselves from a contract impasse and net them 2 quality offensive players, but at a cost Over the course of this offseason the Texans saw unexpected turnover in the executive suite with the sudden dismissal of general manager Brian Gaine and a loose power structure that gives personnel power to head coach Bill O'Brien, gives stroke to executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby, and seemingly full accountability to neither. That may explain how and why two trades are executed in the manner they were. First, defensive end/outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney was traded to Seattle for LB Barkevious Mingo, DE Jake Martin, & a 2020 third round draft pick. If that seems cheap for a pass rusher of Clowney's caliber, you're right. He was franchise tagged by Houston before free agency began. Clowney, only desiring a long term contract (and the guaranteed money that comes with it), took the step of not signing his one year franchise tender. Once July 15 passed, Clowney could only play once his tender was signed, so he used that bit of leverage to trigger a trade. And because he could in effect veto trades to locations he deemed undesirable by refusing to sign his tender offer (as he exercised when the Texans tried to deal him to Miami), Clowney held more cards than Texans management. While Houston did get two serviceable defenders (although there was word that Mingo was on the bubble to make the Seahawks 45 man roster, which would made picking him up cheaper) and a Day 2 draft pick, losing Clowney unequivocally meant the Texans got taken to the cleaners. If O'Brien and/or Easterby knew they would not able to secure an extension to Clowney, they would have been better served to encourage him to sign the tender offer and work in good faith to trade Clowney to a club willing to give him the lucrative payday he desired á la Khalil Mack last year to Chicago. But if that wasn't bad enough, the next trade was more baffling. While the initial Clowney deal fell through with the Dolphins, the Texans did pull the trigger on a swap with Miami. Houston got 2 good players in OT Laremy Tunsil and WR Kenny Stills as well as a 2020 fourth round pick and a 2021 sixth rounder. But what did they cough up in return? Cornerback Jonathan Bademosi (known as a quality special teamer), offensive tackle Julie'n Davenport... And three premium draft picks; '20 1st, '21 1st, AND '21 2nd! For a team blowing it up and rolling in the tanks for 2019 (even though new head coach Brian Flores is committed to putting in maximum effort), this haul was a dream come true for Dolphins GM Chris Grier. Miami has three extra premium picks over the next two years while sacrificing two good players and a pair of expendable draft picks? And yes, Stills does now work as a viable WR2 to bookend the incomparable DeAndre Hopkins and gives QB DeShaun Watson another reliable receiver, along with giving Watson a bodyguard in Tunsil. But the loss of both the quality and quantity of those draft picks, along with the short time frame of those picks, could short circuit any plan either O'Brien or Easterby may have for the Texans. The only justification for these trades is if Houston catches lightning in a bottle and turns in a deep playoff run. Otherwise, this could be a turning point into a downward spiral for the Texans.
