Texans Trade for LT Laremy Tunsil

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Keith

Split the Tunsil trade discussion from the Clowney thread.

Quite possibly one of the most if not the most amazing days as a Texans fan. So much to digest.

The Tunsil trade only makes sense if the Texans sign him long term, and the thought is that the team is positioned to offer Tunsil an incredible contract.

Was it expensive? To the point it was painful? Yes. But... what is a franchise LT worth? Followng the surprising early retirement of an anguished Andrew Luck, what is the health of your young quarterback worth? If it meant bringing a healthy Luck back, what would the Colts have paid for such a left tackle?

The armchair GM in all of us really understands the value of draft picks. But the draft is and will continue to be a crapshoot. Tunsil's value is understood. Watson's value as a healthy QB is even better understood.

The Tunsil trade in a vacuum is not terrible. It's an overpay, but it's an overpay at one of the two positions where an overpay is acceptable.

The bigger problem is (1) tanking Clowney's value when he could have recouped half of what you spent on Tunsil if you traded him 2 months ago. Then (2) spending a 1st and a 2nd on OTs who will now not play LT. If you traded for Tunsil 2 months ago then you don't waste those picks and you let Tunsil learn the offense and his OL teammates instead of showing up before week 1.

It all demonstrates a total lack of long term planning. The kind of thing you'd expect of a GM who isn't solely (and rightly) focused on getting ready for 2019 games. There is a reason coaches don't have GM power anymore. They are 2 very different jobs.