NFL fans weren’t the only ones who couldn’t believe that the Houston Texans sent DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals in a trade that garnered so little in return.
An unnamed NFL executive absolutely ripped into the Texans speaking with Mike Sando of The Athletic:
“It is amazing in the NFL that some trades are so lopsided still,” an exec said. “The Hopkins thing was a joke. How the David Johnson contract was included in the deal just astounds me.”
Quite aside from the sub-optimum draft capital that Houston acquired in the Hopkins trade (a second-round pick and swapped fourth-round picks), Houston took on the full amount of Johnson’s albatross of a contract. It was a shocking move considering the former star running back was a second- or third-string option last season in Arizona.
“On that one, it was like, ‘Wait, who is getting what picks here?’” this exec said. “On this one, Arizona was basically screwed on the David Johnson contract and Houston just bailed them out.”
As for the nuts and bolts of the trade, it was so lopsided that even the “Madden” video game would not approve the deal.
So it’s hardly surprising that people around the league are taking shots at the Texans. And this isn’t the first time it’s happened, either. Last week, an unnamed executive called Houston “a rudderless ship” under head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien.
No wonder so many are talking about Deshaun Watson as if him leaving the Texans was already a foregone conclusion.