If the Houston Texans are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, they have to be willing to part with some of their receivers.
According to a report from ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, teams are curious to see what it would take to acquire one of the Texans receivers prior to the Nov. 3 trade deadline at 3:00 p.m. Central Time.
The Houston Texans are listening to offers for their wide receivers, most notably Brandin Cooks and Kenny Stills. Other teams have inquired about Will Fuller.
Stills hasn’t had as many opportunities in the new-look offense with just 10 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets. While the Texans kept the 28-year-old, who is in the last year of his contract, around just in case there were injuries that hit the unit, it appears they can absorb any attrition at the position. Considering the club has Fuller, Cooks, and Randall Cobb ahead of him, why not flip Stills and get a draft pick from a team that thinks they need to bolster their receiving corps to make a significant playoff run.
If the Texans wanted to really flip a player for a draft pick, they would have to start thinking about parting ways with Cooks or Fuller.
Cooks, who came over tot he Texans as part of a pre-draft trade with the Los Angeles Rams that cost them their 90th overall pick in Round 2, has caught a team-high 34 passes for 427 yards and two touchdowns. Taking him out of the offense at this point may affect future results.
A real sign the Texans were playing for next year would be trading Fuller, who has 31 catches for 490 yards and five touchdowns. The former 2016 first-round pick is in the last year of his contract, and has actually stayed healthy and productive through the first seven games. Dealing Fuller to the right team could result in enough draft capital to start replacing the top-2 picks lost in the Laremy Tunsil trade.
It all comes to the Texans’ approach: do they view themselves as completely out of content, or do they still think they sneak into the playoffs?
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