Houston Texans must recoup 2021 NFL Draft assets ASAP

The Houston Texans need to recoup 2021 NFL Draft assets ASAP.

The Houston Texans don’t have a top 64 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

With the 22nd scoring offense and the 27th scoring defense, that is an unacceptable reality that will probably need to change ASAP if Houston is not going to flat out waste the tremendous investments they made in quarterback DeShaun Watson and left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

Houston’s NFL Draft assets have been fairly depleted since Watson was selected in 2017. They used multiple first-round picks to make the play for Watson in the first place, and then they used multiple first-round picks to pry Tunsil away from the Miami Dolphins.

They took way less than fair value in the DeAndre Hopkins trade, and gave up way too much for backup running back Duke Johnson.

All of these moves and the mess the Texans are in are obviously a huge reason why head coach/GM Bill O’Brien was fired. The Texans are in need of an overhaul in certain areas, and in order to recoup some desperately needed draft assets, they are going to have to make some moves.

Some moves that might hurt in the short-term.

The Texans have been rumored to have wide receivers like Kenny Stills and even potentially Brandin Cooks on the block, but they might also have to seriously think about moving players like defensive lineman JJ Watt.

Because the Texans have not made many hugely impactful draft selections since they moved up for DeShaun Watson in 2017, they don’t exactly have a plethora of guys on their roster on rookie contracts right now that NFL teams will be lining up for.

They have the unenviable task of having to seek the best value on veteran players who may or may not have injury issues in their past or bigger contracts than their play warrants, which diminishes their value.

Still, for this team to not have a pick in the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft is ridiculous with where they currently stand.

To make matters worse, the Texans are projected to be almost $12 million over the cap next year depending on what the NFL’s overall salary cap ends up being (it’s projected to go down, but no lower than $175 million).

Making the decision to move on from players like Watt or Whitney Mercilus who have been Texans for life would be brutal for the fan base, but at this point, the moves Houston makes have to be about surrounding DeShaun Watson for the future.

They aren’t title contenders this year barring some miraculous turnaround, and they don’t have anything to hang their hat on for the 2021 offseason besides hoping for a head coach and GM to really want to work with DeShaun Watson and tremendously limited short-term assets.

Houston is in one of the most unenviable positions in the entire NFL right now. They were meant to be in a championship window and things have gone downhill fast.

If Houston really wanted to recoup assets, they could trade Watson to the highest bidder and start from the ground up. He’s undoubtedly their most valuable asset and would bring the greatest return, possibly even two years’ worth of first-round picks and then some.

The Texans will have to weigh whether or not it’s in their best interests to trade some veteran players and get mid-round draft capital in return or blow the whole thing up including Watson, and let a new GM and head coach start completely from scratch.