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5 exciting last-minute trade scenarios for Houston Texans
We've made it! The start of the football season is here! All those long months enduring other sports and hearing news trickle out. To get through the offseason and make it to the regular season takes patience. It also takes skill. Sometimes, you need a bit of luck and a lot of help. Every offseason brings challenges. Players and coaches come and go. Front offices, scouting departments, and other personnel may also get shuffled in and out. The players are always the main attraction.
When the Texans hired DeMeco Ryans and his new staff, general manager Nick Caserio was thought to be on the hot seat. He was on his third coach in as many years. The team has looked abysmal. Being handcuffed by the roster and not having the immediate ammo to rebuild it quickly were certainly factors. Let's be real. Caserio did a good job digging this team out of the hole it was once in. Now it's time to move full speed ahead.
In a big move on draft day, the Texans took their future franchise quarterback, C.J. Stroud, at number two overall, but traded back up to number three overall and took their future franchise edge rusher, Will Anderson Jr.
Nobody saw that move coming. Improvements are still needed, but at what positions? Could there be more moves down the pike? Here are a couple last minute dream trade scenarios I feel could help this team build a winner much quicker:
WR Mike Evans: Evans has put together one of the best starts to a career at receiver in league history. He's gone over a 1,000 yards in each of his nine seasons. He's currently looking for a contract extension and hasn't seen any progress towards one. The Bucs are a team in transition. Stroud could use a true WR1, especially one that's a big, sure-handed target.
DT Chris Jones: Jones is currently still holding out in hopes of getting a pay raise from the Chiefs. He's widely considered one of the best defensive lineman in the league. He's flexible enough to play inside or outside. Jones is as good a stopping the run as he is at rushing the passer. Who wouldn't want a guy like this on a team with a defensive minded head coach? Imagine he and Anderson Jr playing next to each other…
DE Chase Young: Yes. I know the Texans just traded up for Anderson Jr. Yes. I know Young has been hurt. Yes. I know he too is looking for an extension. I also know a guy with his potential and skillset paired with Anderson Jr on the other side would cause enough trouble to make it well worth the price. Your starting DE's would be 22 and 24 years old. I'd love to see that pair together for years to come.
WR Tee Higgins: Higgins doesn't have the proven body of work like Evans, but he's got other factors on his side. For starters, he's only 24 years old (six years younger than Evans). He, too, is looking for an extension. However, he's had the luxury of playing opposite Ja'Marr Chase for a couple of seasons. Folks may not think as highly of him because of that. He'd be around a lot longer than Evans would, and has better speed. At 6'4, he's also another big target for your rookie quarterback.
LB Danielle Hunter: Hunter is another option to pair with Anderson Jr along that defensive line. Hunter is listed as a linebacker, but plays the EDGE position in the Vikings defense. He was the youngest player to 50 career sacks. At 6'5, he makes great use of his length to not only get to the quarterback, but also to reach out and grab nearby rushers coming out of the backfield. Another contract extension seeker, Hunter may not cost as much as Jones and is older than Young, but he's a solid vet that'll instantly improve this defense.
All of these guys are looking for new deals. While the Texans have their two prized rookies on their first deals, they need to optimize their chances at winning. If that means forgoing some future draft capital and spending big, so be it. Any one of these guys could come in and have an instant impact on winning here. The conversation should start with what it would take as far as compensation in the trade. Seeing what an extension would look like with one of these players is next. Again, these are all last-minute dream scenarios where the team takes a big swing at a very good player in order to improve the chances at accelerating the winning process. Not likely, but you never know!