In the interest of fairness, we will lead with a defense of Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, who, on the opening day of free agency, traded DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for David Johnson, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick in 2021.
• The team, at some point, has to pay Laremy Tunsil and Deshaun Watson, and they have already boxed themselves into a precarious position with a severe lack of draft capital.
• The cap hits on Hopkins and Johnson were similar, so it allowed Houston to get an immediate return for a player who they may not have wanted to sign to another long-term extension, and net draft compensation above the compensatory value.