Houston Texans 2014 Draft Plans: Trade Andre Johnson?
By Patrick Lowe
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Some of you aren’t going to like the idea. In fact, some of you are going to think that I’m down-right dumber than Mark Cuban talking about a business he doesn’t even own.
But unlike Marky Mark, I actually have some basis to what I’m talking about. I feel like once we get through this whole ordeal, you’re gonna really feel a lot better about all of this. Hell, once May 10th hits, you might even thank me and think me and you should get an apartment together! So treat this article like your own version of Shark Tank, Champ, and hear me out for a second.
The Houston Texans need to trade Andre Johnson.
Now, I’m not saying this is going to happen. In fact, if gambling were legal, I’d put the odds at something like +12,000. Or in other words, a lot better than the odds Warren Buffet gave 15,000,000 people to give the Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert, their own personal information for free fill out a perfect bracket. But a trade is still highly unlikely.
(Btw, my condolences to anyone who filled out a bracket and gave Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert, their own personal information for free.)
But enough about odds, I didn’t say the Texans are going to do it. I’m just saying they SHOULD do it. And they should do it for a number of reasons.
First, the Texans championship window has collapsed. If you’re one of those people that think the Texans can make the 2015 playoffs, I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. As the great philosophizer Bill Parcells once said, “you are what you record says you are.” So, regardless of what anyone tells you, the Houston Texans are a 2-14 team. The sooner everyone realizes and accepts this, the quicker we can all move on to the better days. Is everyone still reading?
Great.
In the last two years, the Texans have traded away Matt Schaub’s bearded face and inaccurate arm, cut Owen Daniels, fired Gary Kubiak, saw former #1 overall draft pick Mario Williams move on and they, themselves, have moved on to a more realistic viewpoint. So should you. Doing this can be upsetting, hence all the preemptive-ness above about trading away the cornerstone of this franchise. But it’s not all bad, what people should be saying (instead of saying the Texans aren’t a 2-14 team) is that the Texans are a few steps away from becoming a real powerhouse. Because they can be, if they build through the draft.
Andre Johnson DESERVES to be on a championship caliber team. I feel bad for the guy. The Houston Texans have no cap space, a bunch of holes, no QB, half an O-Line, half a D-Line (which is really just comprised of one guy) and a brand new head coach. Blake “OMG! look at my GF and not my footwork” Bortles is not the quick fix. Neither is Johnny Football or Teddy “Don’t Call Me Theodore” Bridgewater. So why should Andre Johnson deserve to spend his twilight years waiting for a real chance to make some noise in the playoffs?
In terms of money, the team is essentially looking at around the same dead money and new cap space as the Matt Schaub trade created. Johnson re-structured his deal in 2013 when he thought he was playing for a contender, so there’s $11,964,166 in dead money this year. But that number gets cut in half in 2015 ($7,319,583) and again in 2016 ($2,675,000). The Texans were already looking at quite a bit of cap space for 2015. Trading Andre Johnson creates cap relief of $3,680,417 this year, $8,825,000 next year and a whopping $12,000,000 in 2016. Can Bob McNair stomach paying up now if he gives he team financial flexibility in the future? History says, yes. I say, who outside of McNair’s Will cares? I want what’s best for this football team.
The Texans should look at their re-building plans like an NBA team does. Bottom out (check), trade away all valuable assets (Andre Johnson… annnnddd?) for picks, free up cap space and start over via the draft. We’re six weeks away from the Texans revealing their selection for the #1 overall draft pick and now is the time to act. Andre Johnson can’t throw the ball to himself (well, maybe), so we need to start over. Get what you can for him and let’s dig-in deep.
This is the deepest draft, according to most pundits, in a number of years. On Tuesday morning, head coach Bill O’Brien said, “The #1 pick in the 2nd round is like having another 1st round pick. Picking in the 3rd round is like have another 2nd round pick.”
Why not load up on picks, watch Peyton Manning and Tom Brady duke it out (like we do anyways) and stock-pile cheap talent this year? You wanna draft Blake Bortles #1 overall, fine. But let’s at least have more picks in the second and third rounds to build a winning team. That way, we can stop the mediocrity and start building something worth-wile. I don’t want to sit through another 8-8 season and watch the Texans repeat their same mistakes.
The Big Tuna agrees with me. J.J. Watt, Arian Foster, Duane Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and Brian Cushing aren’t going anywhere. It’s time to stop worrying about next year and start worrying about building a solid team, with a solid, long term future. Andre Johnson deserves to be on a legitimate contender.
It’s addition by subtraction, folks. The Texans need to trade Andre Johnson.