Houston Texans named in unanticipated trade scenario

SWING FOR THE FENCES

Texans DeMeco Ryans, CJ Stroud
The trade market could benefit the Texans. Composite Getty Image.

It was a busy day in the NFL on Tuesday, as teams had to make their final decisions on whether to use the franchise tag. The Houston Texans opted not to use the tag, but did agree to a 3-year, $36 million contract extension with tight end Dalton Schultz.

Which means several of the team's top defenders will hit the market in free agency, unless they are able to get a deal done by Wednesday, March 13 before 4PM/ET. DE Jonathan Greenard, CB Steven Nelson, and LB Blake Cashman will be coveted by other teams, and certainly missed if the Texans are unable to bring them back.

Corners Tavierre Thomas, and Desmond King are also set to be free agents. Meaning, Derek Stingley is the only legitimate corner currently on the roster. And as good as he was last season, he has missed 14 games in his two-year career.

The Kansas City Chiefs also had some tough choices to make this week, choosing to use the franchise tag on their elite corner Ladarius Snead. Which means defensive lineman Chris Jones will be a highly sought after free agent when the legal tampering period begins on Monday.

What's interesting about Snead is the Chiefs are reportedly willing to trade him if they can't sign him to a long-term contract. Bleacher Report recently published an article naming seven teams that should pursue Snead on the trade market, with Houston being one of those teams.

Which makes a ton of sense considering the Texans are short-handed at corner and have a ton of cap space even after the Schultz and Ka'imi Fairbairn (3-year, $15.9 million) contracts.

And cap space they will need because Snead will carry a 2024 cap hit of $19.8 million if he remains on the franchise tag. Of course, the goal would be to sign him to an extension. But even when they do that, he'll command a salary of around $20 million per year.

Which is what teams should expect to pay for an elite corner that's in the prime of his career.

How much will the Texans have to give up in a trade?

Via: Bleacher Report:

In a vacuum, Sneed is probably worth a first-round draft pick. That may be where Kansas City starts its negotiations.

Although Sneed has never been named to the Pro Bowl, he was easily one of the NFL's top cover corners in 2023. The 27-year-old allowed an opposing passer rating of only 56.2 in coverage, and he didn't allow a single touchdown during the regular season despite being targeted 100 times.

A first round pick feels a little sporty if the Texans are going to have to pay him a top of the market corner salary. In the video below, they reference an article from Texans Wire that addresses the compensation. Would Kansas City be willing to take a second-round pick? Or perhaps the Chiefs (No. 32) swap first-round picks with Houston (No. 23), and the Texans throw in a third-rounder to get the deal done.

It may sound like a lot, but this would arguably give the Texans the best corner duo in the NFL. And keep in mind, the Texans are going to have to attack this position one way or another with only Stingley in the fold currently.

They could do a blockbuster trade for Snead that would cost them draft picks and a salary of around $20 a year.

Or, they could go after a soon-to-be free agent like Steven Nelson, that would cost around half that.

The draft is another way they could go, which means you're surrendering a first or second round pick for a prospect that may or may not pan out.

Whichever way they choose to proceed, they have to add two starting-caliber corners to the roster.

Be sure to check out the video above for all the pros and cons of pulling off a blockbuster trade for Snead.


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Chiefs defeat the Texans, 23-14. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud just about had to be scraped off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium by the time the Kansas City Chiefs had sacked him for the eighth time Saturday, the Houston quarterback's jersey stretched and torn and covered in grass and mud.

It pretty much summed up another trip to the divisional round of the playoffs for the Texans.

They rode a roller-coaster of brilliant performances and bitter flops into the postseason, but seemed to be gathering some momentum in the wild-card round, when they soundly beat the Chargers in a game many expected them to lose.

But that performance last weekend merely set up a showdown with the Chiefs, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, who had beaten Houston just last month and never seems to lose at this point in the season.

And with Patrick Mahomes finding Travis Kelce wide open all day and Kansas City's pass rush making life miserable for Stroud, the Chiefs methodically pieced together a 23-14 victory to deny the Texans a spot in the AFC championship game yet again.

They've had six tries to get through the divisional round. They have failed all six times.

Two of them have been in Kansas City.

Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the game on YouTube.

And this one might have been every bit as bitter as the last, when the Texans blew a 24-0 lead in a 51-31 loss in January 2020 that would ultimately catapult Mahomes, Kelce and Chiefs coach Andy Reid to the first of their three Super Bowl titles.

Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 55-yard field goal attempt that would have tied it at 6 late in the first half, but instead gave the Chiefs a short field. Five plays later, Kareem Hunt powered into the end zone for a touchdown.

In the second half, after the Texans spent more than 10 minutes driving 81 yards for a touchdown that should have tied it, Fairbairn missed the PAT in the cold, swirling winds. It not only left the Chiefs clinging to a 13-12 lead but also seemed to sap all the energy and excitement that Stroud, running back Joe Mixon and the rest of the offense had built up.

Kansas City proceeded to drive 81 yards for a touchdown of its own to take a 20-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Texans still had chances to drive for a tying TD. But the first opportunity ended with three straight incompletions by Stroud and one of George Karlaftis' three sacks on fourth down, and the second with back-to-back incompletions and a punt.

By the time the Chiefs added a late field goal, and conceded a safety in the closing seconds, the game was over.

The Texans can still look back on a second consecutive AFC South title and that win over the Chargers. But they still have never won consecutive playoff games in the same season, something that is sure to fester within coach DeMeco Ryans, who was part of the first team to win a playoff game for the franchise when it beat Cincinnati in January 2012.

It also won't sit well with Stroud, who has done just about everything except make it to the AFC championship game.

The 23-year-old starting quarterback — the youngest to face a defending Super Bowl champ in the playoffs — is only the sixth QB to win a playoff game in each of his first two seasons. And he's the first Texans quarterback to win two playoff games.

Yet there was nothing he could do against Kansas City and its ferocious pass rush Saturday.

There wasn't much the rest of the Texans could do against the Chiefs, either.

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