I am a Houston Texans fan. I know that its is hard to say without a couple laughs, but I am. I’ve seen it all, been through the era of Andre Johnson, Bryan Cushing, Matt Schaub, and Gary Kubiak, and unfortunately watched the team go up 24-0 then lose 52-31 in the AFC Playoffs this past season. Through all my fandom, I’ve stuck it out, through thick and thin, when times got tough, I had faith that the team would prevail. Then, at around 1:00 on a beautiful afternoon, ESPN reporter, Adam Schefter reported that DeAndre Hopkins would be traded from the Houston Texans to the Arizona Cardinals for a 2nd round pick and David Johnson. What. Is. Happening. This is crazy, so I jumped on my handy dandy ESPN app on my phone to see if it was true.

It was.

Thoughts circled in my mind. Why would they do this? Who let this happen? The trade was orchestrated by new General Manager, Bill O’Brian. O’Brian was the coach that ended the Andre Johnson era, the coach that acquired Brock Osweiler, the one that decided to go for it on 4th down in the AFC playoffs against the Chiefs. And we all know how that ended. So, especially after that move, I was already not too fond of him. I mean, in my mind I didn’t think his first decision as a GM would be to trade arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. In my opinion, he was a questionable hire when they decided to get him from Penn State, then Houston made him the play caller, and now the GM. Why the promotion after yet another mediocre season? O’Brian should have been fired a long time ago, yet they kept him and now he has absolutely torn apart the offense and turned the team into the laughing stock around the league.

The acquisition of David Johnson makes no sense. He had a breakout year in 2016, earning him a massive contract extension.  But since then, injuries have turned him into an average running back at best.  Currently, Houston has 4 backs on their depth chart.  In 2019, O’Brian traded for 2 running backs and already has one returning from injury in Lamar Miller. It’s not like the Hopkins contract was enormous.  At only $40 million over the next 3 years, it was a very club friendly deal. On the other hand, the Johnson deal is absolutely absurd. At just over 12 million a year, it’s a ridiculous price tag for a running back.  The worst part is that the contact will have a $20 million dollar cap hit for the next 2 years, making the likelihood that the Texans will be able to sign any big names on the  free agent market doubtful.

This is all on Bill O’Brian.  Could he have gotten a lot more for Hopkins?  That will be the question as we watch the rest of free agency play out . What we do know is that as of Monday, the Vikings sent Stefon Diggs to the Bills in return for a first, fifth and sixth round pick. The year prior, we watched the Giants  unload Odell Beckham, the best receiver at the time, for a first and third round pick, as well as former 1st round pick, Jabril Peppers. So is O’Brian unaware of the possibility to get a first round pick or is he just that inexperienced? Only time will tell.

Late Monday eventing, O’Brian made another move.  He signed Randall Cobb from the Dallas Cowboys. Although Cobb had career highs in receiving going into his 10th season, he is a slot receiver, not an outside receiver.  As far as I’m concerned, he is no replacement for Hopkins. Don’t get me wrong, Cobb is a great pick up. My only question is, could Houston have signed Cobb and kept Hopkins?

In the eyes of loyal Texans fans, however, all this proves is that it’s going to be a long season.  The sad part is…the season hasn’t even started yet.