Worst Trade Ever? - Texans trade hopkins for RB DJ from the cards

Discussion in 'National Football League' started by GasedAndConfused, Mar 18, 2020.

  1. GasedAndConfused

    GasedAndConfused Well-Known Member

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    https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...e-texans-flunked-cardinals-got-elite-receiver

    Even by Bill O'Brien's standards, the Cardinals and Texans made a stunning trade on Monday afternoon. Houston traded away arguably its second-most valuable player, star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, netting oft-injured running back David Johnson and a second-round pick in the process.

    While I appreciate O'Brien's thoughtfulness in giving us a fascinating swap to discuss in these sport-free times, I feel for Texans fans who just lost a franchise icon in the prime of his career. Here are my thoughts on what might be the biggest trade we'll see this offseason:
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins to Cardinals for David Johnson
    Houston Texans get: RB David Johnson, 2020 second-round pick, 2021 fourth-round pick
    Arizona Cardinals get: WR DeAndre Hopkins, 2020 fourth-round pick

    Cardinals grade: B+
    Texans grade: F

    My first instinct when I saw the terms of this trade was to worry whether Hopkins had lost a limb. My second instinct was to give the Texans side of this deal the same grade safety Tyrann Mathieu awarded his former team. This is a jaw-dropping, mind-bending, inexplicable trade for O'Brien, whose bizarre run as Texans general manager is going to be the subject of a 30 for 30 documentary one day.

    Let's start with Johnson, who should have had negative trade value, especially after the Cardinals slapped the transition tag on Kenyan Drake earlier this morning. Johnson is now three years removed from his only productive NFL season. He missed almost the entire 2017 season with a wrist injury and has been a replacement-level back over the last two seasons. The Cardinals' offense instantly got better when they replaced him with Drake, who was available for a late-round pick from the Dolphins.

    Johnson would likely be in line to get a one-year deal in the $2 million range if he hit the open market. Instead, his $10.2 million base salary is already guaranteed for 2020, and $2.1 million of his base salary in 2021 guarantees in five days. Throw in $960,000 in per-game roster bonuses and the Texans are on the hook for more than $13 million for Johnson over the next 12 months.

    Johnson's deal is about $11 million underwater. If the Cardinals wanted to trade Johnson's deal to a rational team, my best estimate is that they would have needed to attach a third-round pick to get it done, and even that would have been on the light end of possible compensation. The Texans have now spent a third-round pick to acquire Duke Johnson and dealt away one of the best wide receivers in football because he wasn't enough to satisfy O'Brien's need at the running back position.

    Meanwhile, the Texans got league-average play from Carlos Hyde after acquiring him when the Chiefs were about to cut Hyde at the end of the preseason. Hyde declined an offer from the team last week, and O'Brien's response appears to have been the equivalent of a fan punching a hole in their television after a loss. It would be one thing if the Texans were acquiring Ezekiel Elliott or some superstar back, but independent of his contract, David Johnson probably profiles as the pass-catching, lower-usage half of a running back rotation at the moment. That's exactly what O'Brien already had in Duke Johnson. If anything, the Texans still probably need to add a back who can work between the tackles.

    Instead of sending a third-round pick to ship off Johnson, the Cardinals somehow managed to ship off Johnson by swapping fourth-round picks with the Texans. When you consider that the Texans are sending their 2020 fourth-rounder and getting a 2021 fourth-rounder in return, most teams would actually consider the pick swap a win for the Cardinals. I honestly admire Arizona general manager Steve Keim's audacity in even asking to swap fourth-rounders; it's as if someone offered you $1,000 for your VHS copy of "Mr. Deeds" and you asked that person for more before saying yes.

    That half of the deal alone is a disaster for the Texans. The other half -- shipping out an unquestioned, bona fide star at wide receiver for the 40th pick in the draft -- is somehow even worse. I don't need to tell you how good Hopkins is, but remember that he was even posting huge numbers while O'Brien was saddling him with anonymous tall quarterbacks like Ryan Mallett, Tom Savage and Brock Osweiler, let alone once Deshaun Watson got there.

    Watson has just nine career dropbacks without Hopkins in the lineup, and when an ailing Hopkins tried to grit his way through a playoff game against the Colts with a significant shoulder injury, Watson was 29-of-49 passing for just 235 yards with a passer rating of 69.7. The Texans are stuck with a pair of deep threats as their top wideouts in Will Fuller and Kenny Stills. Fuller is basically locked in as Houston's No. 1 wideout now, which is scary given the frequency with which the former Notre Dame star gets injured. Fuller has played about 36 complete games out of 64 possible contests across his four pro seasons. Do the Texans now extend Fuller to help pacify fans furious about the Hopkins deal?

    We saw what the market for a franchise wide receiver on a second contract looks like last year when the Giants traded Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. Hopkins has a better off-field reputation and has been both healthier and more productive than OBJ, although Beckham was a year younger when he was dealt. The Browns sent the 17th and 95th picks and a starting strong safety, Jabrill Peppers, to acquire Beckham. The
    You can argue that this draft is deep in wide receivers and that the Texans can try to replace Hopkins by using the second-round pick they acquired from the Cardinals on one of those wideouts, but there's just no way the Texans can expect to get anything close to Hopkins with that pick. The Texans are also down their first-round pick from the Laremy Tunsil trade and don't have their first- or second-round pick in 2021, so it wouldn't shock me if O'Brien used this pick to address the defensive side of the ball.
     
  2. Red Menace

    Red Menace Well-Known Member

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    Nothing will replace the Herschel Walker trade as the worse trade.

    This one is pretty bad though.
     
  3. FJF

    FJF 2018 MVP Joe Namath Award Winner

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    Chris Godwin is about to get more for the 12 jersey than O’Brien got for Hopkins
     
  4. NYJ79

    NYJ79 Well-Known Member

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    One can at least understand criminally overpaying if you think what you're getting in return is the final piece. There is no explanation for how little the Texans got in return for Hopkins, or at least none that don't involve blackmail, brain damage, drugs, or a hostage.
     
  5. themorey

    themorey Well-Known Member

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    There is 1 explanation...BO'B is a Belicheat disciple and is responsible for personnel. He's probably just doing what he thinks Belicheat would do, except he fucked it up. But that's what you get with a cheap facsimile.
     
  6. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    And I think the bigger problem is that they made this trade the first day in the first couple hours of the legal tampering period? It feels like they for SURE thought they were getting Amari Cooper and that fell through.

    There's no way around this. This was a dreadful trade for the Texans. O'Brien's been the acting GM for a while now. Which is even more bizarre considering his teams are usually underperformers and blew a 24 point lead against the Chiefs. Not only did they blow that lead. They absolutely laid down.

    He'll be fired when they go 7-9 and choose some shitty offensive lineman in the second round.
     
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  7. Martin&theJETS

    Martin&theJETS Well-Known Member

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    OK ADAM RANK
     
  8. FJF

    FJF 2018 MVP Joe Namath Award Winner

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    ?
     
  9. Martin&theJETS

    Martin&theJETS Well-Known Member

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  10. FJF

    FJF 2018 MVP Joe Namath Award Winner

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    Ha. Don’t follow him. Honestly told that line to a co worker who asked how much Tom would give Godwin for the number. May have to throw that genius a follow
     
  11. Biggs

    Biggs Well-Known Member

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    I loved the move by AZ. Looking forward to seeing him in Cardinal red live. Loved DJ but he fell off a cliff the day he was paid. Cardinals could be a fun team to watch next year. It's been a horrible couple of years.
     
  12. DefenseWinsChampionships

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    Buccaneers trading away HOF QB Steve Young after only two seasons to San Francisco is way worse than trading away a WR in Hopkins.

    Favre traded to Green Bay after rookie year was a disaster for Atlanta too.

    One of the worst I've ever seen was Ricky Williams, RB. Ditka traded away their entire 1999 draft and a 2000 1st & 3rd as well. Absolutely nuts.
     
  13. HomeoftheJets

    HomeoftheJets Well-Known Member

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    The worst trade ever was Belichick to the Patriots for a first rounder. :mad::mad::mad:
     
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  14. ConcordeChops

    ConcordeChops 2018 International Poster Award Winner

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    This trade is getting a disproportionate amount of attention, David Johnson was a good player on a mess of a team. I wouldn't have made the trade but there's 1500 all-purpose yards a season still in him.

    There's enough WR draft depth to come out with a good player with the additional second round pick and have a versatile RB in Johnson.
     
  15. JoeWalton

    JoeWalton Well-Known Member

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    How quickly they forget. In retrospect, seems like that Herschel trade was rigged so America's team could get back on their feet. The Vikes have always been the league's sacrificial lambs for such things.
     
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  16. WarriorRB28

    WarriorRB28 Well-Known Member

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    The things I'm reading about O'Brien make me believe he has some bigot in him.

    It looks like things got personal between him & Hopkins.
     
  17. Biggs

    Biggs Well-Known Member

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    TB thought Testaverde was going to be better than Young. I believe TB made the trade knowing they were going to take him with the first pick
     
  18. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    The Texans just doubled down on this horrible trade and dealt that second round pick for the often concussed (and traded) Brandon Cooks.

    There is zero chance Bill O'Brien makes it past this year.
     
  19. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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  20. CotcheryFan

    CotcheryFan 2018 ROTY Poster Award Winner

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    Essentially, O'Brien traded a top 5 WR for a good, but often injured one. If I was Watson, I'd demand a trade.
     

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