Texans Head Coach and General Manager Bill O'Brien finally deigned to speak with the media Thursday for the first time since the DeAndre Hopkins trade. Emperor O elaborated in defending the virtually universally criticized (evaluating the Texans' side of things) deal. He didn't come across as insane or even unreasonable, but he just isn't going to win an argument on this.

O'Brien framed moving Hopkins as pretty much a financial call given Hopkins's raise request. No one asked O'Brien a question that obviously should have been addressed. Why didn't the Texans simply tell Hopkins that they love him (unless O'Brien was in Billy Bluster mode in saying all flowery things about how great Hopkins is), but he wasn't getting a reworked contract two years into a five year deal? Did they think Hopkins would have retired? Or staged a one man mutiny? I mean, come on. The Texans would have been on solid ground in telling D-Hop that his five year 81 million dollar deal is not some woeful underpay and that the team should not/will not re-do a deal simply because the market goes up elsewhere. Hopkins cashed about 41 million dollars in checks the last two seasons. Using similar logic to claiming he's now underpaid, one could argue that as great as he was Hopkins was overpaid the last two years. Plenty of guys topped 11.2 yards per reception and seven touchdown catches last season.

O'Brien explained that he thought it untenable to pay elite level money for Hopkins in addition to elite money for a left tackle, quarterback, and defensive end. Flawed logic. Deshaun Watson is dirt cheap in 2020 and under his fifth year contract option for 2021 will still be a tremendous bargain. That covers two of the three seasons left on Hopkins's contract. Watson and Hopkins combined carry a 2020 cap hit roughly five million lower than Ryan Tannehill's on his new deal with the Titans, about eight million lower than Phillip Rivers's with the Colts.

The Texans are on the hook for David Johnson in 2020 at a higher cap hit (over 11 million) than a running back playing on the franchise tag. Reminder: Johnson's last good NFL season was 2016. Wide receiver Will Fuller makes more than 10 mil in 2020. Hopkins makes 12.5. Fuller has missed 20 games to injury over the last three seasons. Hopkins has missed two games in his seven season career: the last game of the 4-12 disaster that was 2017, and the meaningless regular season finale in 2019. Among Johnson, Fuller, and Hopkins who is the best player/economic value? J.J. Watt has played more than half the regular season once in the last four years. Watt makes 15.5 mil for 2020. Better value: Watt at 15.5 or Hopkins at 12.5?

A week from when I type this the first round of the NFL Draft will be in the books. Barring a stunning trade the Texans will have been bystanders. They of course can't throw a draft party this year. Next year's will be a drag with the Texans having neither a first nor second round pick.