The Houston Texans fired head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien on Monday following a catastrophic 0-4 start to the season.
While the timing of the move was a bit odd, the decision itself was a sound one. O’Brien had been a disaster for some time now, and he needed to go.
The question now becomes: what other tough choices must Houston make?
According to Colin Cowherd, one of the first ones has to be trading away defensive end JJ Watt.
“The Texans have no draft picks left and they have no cap space,” he said this week.
“What they have to do, and this is really uncomfortable for them, is to trade JJ Watt. There is four really good teams in the NFL like Seattle and Baltimore who need a pass rush… If you don’t have draft picks and you don’t have cap space going forward you can get both moving one player.
“He’s perfect for Seattle, he’s perfect for Baltimore, and the Niners could use him too. You’re already paying your quarterback a fortune. You can’t tell me there’s not a market for JJ Watt. He feels like a Patriot. I can already picture him in a Patriots uniform. He feels like he would be a great fit for the Ravens or the Seahawks.”
What’s next for the Texans after parting with Bill O’Brien?@ColinCowherd: They have to trade JJ Watt pic.twitter.com/xsJCN5fjlD
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) October 6, 2020
It is hard to argue with Cowherd’s logic. The Texans are not making a Super Bowl run any time soon. The AFC simply has too many teams that are better.
And if you’re not making a Super Bowl run, do you really need to be paying $15.5 million this year and $17.5 million next to an injury prone veteran?
At this juncture in his career, Watt is a missing piece on a championship team – not a guy you build a defense around for the next five years.
Investing major cash in quarterback Deshaun Watson this past offseason made sense. He may not be playing great football at the moment, but he is still an elite talent – and he is 25 years old.
Aaron Rodgers’ family must be in town.
https://t.co/yx9le7ipG9— Game 7 (@game7__) October 6, 2020
Watt is 31 years old.
It is time for all parties involved to move on.
Watt, for his part, is simply focused on playing the game at this stage. He is drowning out all outside noise.
“All I can do is control what I can control,” he said this past week.
“I’m going to try to find a way to get a win. This is terrible. It’s brutal. It’s depressing. This sucks. I don’t know any other way to put it.”
This is a game changer.
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 6, 2020
Obviously the Texans will monitor how things go under Romeo Crennel over the next few weeks, but the writing is on the wall. This squad, as presently constructed, is not winning anything of significance. It needs to be reconfigured and retooled for long term success.
That starts with trading Watt.
Will it happen? It’s hard to say. Should it? Absolutely.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
