GregR
Footballguy
By the way, some other positions of need besides CB and WR... LB depth, and safety. I think we're pretty thin at LB quality after the starters.
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Houston Texans forever - goodbye Slowik, hello Nick Caley (22 Viewers)
- Thread starter GregR
- Start date
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Thanks.
GregR
Footballguy
Good trade back.
Houston Texans - JoeSteeler
2.42 T'Vondre Sweat DT Texas
Houston has traded Pick 59 to Carolina for #65 & 141
3.65 TJ Tampa CB Iowa State
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Thanks. Thinking of going with LB Cedric Gray unless I can find a WR I like
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: North Carolina LB Cedric Gray
From now until the 2024 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and...
steelersdepot.com
Cedric Gray Linebacker North Carolina | NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Rating: 83.1 Rank: #7 Forty: 4.64 Cedric Gray's draft profile presents a mixed bag of elite athleticism and areas needing polish. On the positive side, Gray's sideline-to-sideline speed,...
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Probably WR Jermaine Burton if I go WR
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
I like the Texans WR though
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Thanks. I thought about Safety but didn’t see anyone I liked here. Even though we aren’t going that far, I do have picks 123-127-141 coming up and was hoping for WR and S in those picks.
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
Pick 86 Houston Texans - Cedric Gray LB North Carolina
GregR
Footballguy
Hrm, didn't see this when it happened 4 days ago, but heard it mentioned on the radio today: The Texans are restructuring veteran offensive lineman Tytus Howard’s $56 million contract to create $10.3 million in salary cap space. Houston now has over $27 million in cap space heading into April.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Diggs new WR1 for CJ Stroud?
Nico is coming off 80/1290/8TD season and looked the part of a potential stud in the making, he's 6-4
Diggs is a much shorter WR at just 6 feet and a slimmer frame vs Nico who has the ability to run through defenders.
Tank Dell 50/700/7TD
Stroud likes to throw down the field, Diggs will have opportunities but his numbers have been decreasing and he is now 30
Still, another nice weapon for Stroud coming into Year 2.
3 legit WRs to toss it around.
Stroud is top 3-5 at QB for me in terms of NFL and FF now.
Nico is coming off 80/1290/8TD season and looked the part of a potential stud in the making, he's 6-4
Diggs is a much shorter WR at just 6 feet and a slimmer frame vs Nico who has the ability to run through defenders.
Tank Dell 50/700/7TD
Stroud likes to throw down the field, Diggs will have opportunities but his numbers have been decreasing and he is now 30
Still, another nice weapon for Stroud coming into Year 2.
3 legit WRs to toss it around.
Stroud is top 3-5 at QB for me in terms of NFL and FF now.
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GregR
Footballguy
Sources: Bills finalizing trade of star WR Stefon Diggs to Texans
The Buffalo Bills are finalizing a trade to send four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans for draft-pick compensation, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
The Bills receive a 2025 second-round pick (via the Minnesota Vikings) in exchange for Diggs and a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
It's the latest win-now move for the Texans, who are surrounding quarterback C.J. Stroud with veteran talent this offseason.
GregR
Footballguy
Diggs has salary cap hits in the $27-$28m range. Though Bills will have to pay $5.6m of those each year as signing bonus hitting their cap immediately. Possibly also there might be an extra $3m savings this year if they had to pay his option bonus already. Assuming no money changed hands in the trade too.
Guess we know now why they restructured Howard to free up some space!
His Sportrac page looks to be down at the moment (probably updating), OTC is showing the Option bonus as $16MM that was paid in 2023 and pro-rated so I am thinking we are only on the hook for his base salary, workout bonus and per game roster bonuses. So that would be roughly $19MM each the next three years (with nothing guaranteed after this year.) I think he was grumbling about pay with the Bills so they may rework his deal though. Perhaps convert some unguaranteed salary into a new bonus?
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I would approach it from a different POV, let me share and I do think you make a decent point, however...
Nico is entering Year 4 and then he's a free agent, I like him quite a bit but he only arrived when CJS showed up, maybe the Texans don't see him in their long term plans
Maybe they see Diggs as a 2-3 year guy while CJS is on his rookie deal
And maybe they don't want to have to see Nico go and then start over with more rookie WRs, they want to try and strike right now.
There are a lot of moving pieces here and they can replace that 2nd between now and April 2025.
I wouldn't be too upset yet.
GregR
Footballguy
From Overthecap article on the trade specifically and cost to the Texans:
Diggs will cost $19.005 million this year and has a non-guaranteed salary of $18.505 million in 2025. $3.5 million of that salary is injury protected. There are also non-guaranteed years in 2026 and 2027 worth $19.6 million and $18 million respectively.
Diggs will cost $19.005 million this year and has a non-guaranteed salary of $18.505 million in 2025. $3.5 million of that salary is injury protected. There are also non-guaranteed years in 2026 and 2027 worth $19.6 million and $18 million respectively.
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MTskibum
Footballguy
The QB play and coaching was terrible during Nico's first 2 years and everyone knew it. They should have given that money that they are paying Diggs to Nico instead and used the 2nd rounder on another rookie WR.
MTskibum
Footballguy
I knew the trade.
It is bad practice to trade for an older wr that the other team obviously wants rid of.
Bills are eating tons of dead money.
This trade is lose-lose.
I get the reservations, Diva Headcase WR's rarely stop being Diva Headcase WR's for long. Honeymoon may be over in just a short year or two but at that point we should be able to cut him with little impact (unless they drastically rewrite his contract.)
They will need to make some moves next year to cut salary and hit on some draft picks long-term though IMO. We are overpaying guys like Tytus for example. But at least those short-term $ deals like Hunter all drop-off in '26 when Stroud will be getting extended (and his big new hits may not really come from another year or two after that too.)
GregR
Footballguy
I agree there's some risk to it in various aspects. His play could drop off with age over the years left. He could become a distraction.
Also some benefits. Salary-wise we're getting him on the cheap. If we'd gotten Keenan Allen that was a 4th round pick the Bears sent for him (ETA: We offered a 2025 day 2 pick), but he only has 1 year left if I recall correctly and so Bears will have to be writing him a contract that is probably more than $19m or 18m a year for the next 3 years after.
We have very little cap constraints on us when CJ, Tank and Will are up for extensions. We only have like $4m of dead money in 2027 Diggs is the only player whose contract runs that long, so the team is going to look very different down the road.
I don't disagree about using picks on cheap players and hoping you keep hitting. That would be my longterm plan if I was a GM. But I'm also not against going for it a little bit in this rare situation of having the best ever rookie QB season still on his cheap contract. One reason I liked the trade down that they did to pick up the two 2nd round picks which let us make this trade.
I think they can probably still make a Nico extension work. We still have somewhere around $10m-$14M in cap room this year depending on whether you believe OTC or Spotrac. Tunsil has a $20m salary that could be restructured, and Nico could get a big bonus spread out over future years.
Also some benefits. Salary-wise we're getting him on the cheap. If we'd gotten Keenan Allen that was a 4th round pick the Bears sent for him (ETA: We offered a 2025 day 2 pick), but he only has 1 year left if I recall correctly and so Bears will have to be writing him a contract that is probably more than $19m or 18m a year for the next 3 years after.
We have very little cap constraints on us when CJ, Tank and Will are up for extensions. We only have like $4m of dead money in 2027 Diggs is the only player whose contract runs that long, so the team is going to look very different down the road.
I don't disagree about using picks on cheap players and hoping you keep hitting. That would be my longterm plan if I was a GM. But I'm also not against going for it a little bit in this rare situation of having the best ever rookie QB season still on his cheap contract. One reason I liked the trade down that they did to pick up the two 2nd round picks which let us make this trade.
I think they can probably still make a Nico extension work. We still have somewhere around $10m-$14M in cap room this year depending on whether you believe OTC or Spotrac. Tunsil has a $20m salary that could be restructured, and Nico could get a big bonus spread out over future years.
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The Duff Man
Footballguy
I see this as swinging for the fences. A couple year rental player who can elevate chances to win a championship, and it costs you what will likely be an early 2nd (Minnesota’s)
I would want my team to make moves like this. The Bills did just that with Von Miller, it just backfired. But you can’t have regrets when you take your shots if you miss.
Diggs will have a big year and be super motivated.
I would want my team to make moves like this. The Bills did just that with Von Miller, it just backfired. But you can’t have regrets when you take your shots if you miss.
Diggs will have a big year and be super motivated.
Yeah, I am looking at this like T.O. going to the Eagles. He blew up for a year and they made it to the Superbowl. The wheels came off the bus the following year with massive drama, hopefully we can avoid something quite that dramatic as what little I know of Diggs he's not quite the T.O. level of diva!
Offense should be fun to watch with all these guys, hopefully the O'line can stay healthy. I imagine at least 2 out of our 3 day two picks will be defense, but hoping they try to add to the offensive line too.
Offense should be fun to watch with all these guys, hopefully the O'line can stay healthy. I imagine at least 2 out of our 3 day two picks will be defense, but hoping they try to add to the offensive line too.
GregR
Footballguy
Robert Woods if released would be a $4.75m cap hit, but we'd get a net $4.9m increase in cap room after accounting for that.
ETA: If traded though the cap hit would drop by $1.5m to $3.25m I believe, and the cap savings increase by that much to $6.4m as some of the cap hit is guaranteed salary that his new team would take on. Don't ask me who would trade for him.
ETA: If traded though the cap hit would drop by $1.5m to $3.25m I believe, and the cap savings increase by that much to $6.4m as some of the cap hit is guaranteed salary that his new team would take on. Don't ask me who would trade for him.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I thought the Bills got too much
JoeSteeler
Footballguy
This is exactly why I didn’t take a WR in the mock. 
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
Is anyone a T.O. level diva?
Actually thought about typing that!
GregR
Footballguy
Schefter mentioned that the Minnesota-Houston trade, it had been Houston who called Minny initiating the talk. As opposed to most of us thinking Minny went out looking for extra ammo for a trade up. Houston was looking for picks to be able to go and do something like they did with Diggs.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I did a thread just focusing on the Falcons and I plan on doing other teams, not sure if I will hit all 32 but I can safely say that the Houston Texans are likely next on my short list of some discussion about all the skill positions, especially after Diggs was brought on as one of their starting WRs.
It's going to be fun to see how high Stroud will go on the QB list, I have him easily Top 3-5 right now.
My guess is NONE of the WRs crack the top 10 only because CJS will throw to whoever is open and when they get a lead in the 2nd Half, seems like the ground game will be improved.
The Texans might not have to throw the ball ALL the time like they did last year.
It's going to be fun to see how high Stroud will go on the QB list, I have him easily Top 3-5 right now.
My guess is NONE of the WRs crack the top 10 only because CJS will throw to whoever is open and when they get a lead in the 2nd Half, seems like the ground game will be improved.
The Texans might not have to throw the ball ALL the time like they did last year.
Boston
Footballguy
Unfortunately, I happen to know a team.
GregR
Footballguy
It's a good discussion I think. It kind of highlights that, this could really go either way.
There are a lot of reasons you could cite that it might not work out. Also reasons you could see it going differently in this new situation. They did a nice job hitting on a few of them. Also there's some aspects like the resulting cap costs and ability to get out of the contract without cost after year 1 if it did already go poorly.
It's a gamble, but I'd say it's a very calculated gamble. I don't even know how I'd assign odds to how it turns out. After how the team has been run the last 20 years, I do think they seem to be making some smarter decisions though at least in terms of realizing what they have and trying to maximize the window that's here.
The Duff Man
Footballguy
Texans voided the rest of his contract. One year rental? Seems like a lot to give up.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
It does.
I wonder how Diggs feels about this?
Maybe since Diggs thinks so highly of himself he would prefer to play out the rest of his career on prove it deals.
Hmm, yeah don’t like that. In theory if he blows up and they let him walk they may get a decent comp pick out of it as they won’t have as many FA holes to fill next year. Perhaps there’s some sort of gentleman’s agreement that he’ll get some decent one year payments beyond his old contract #’s as long as he performs on the field. 
GregR
Footballguy
Yeah I wonder if there is more to it.
If there isn't, then they traded Minny's 2nd (call it, earlyish to mid probably), for a 5th, a 6th, a compensatory 3rd, and 1 year of Diggs playing in a contract year.
I'm going to go out on a limb then and guess that this might mean an extension for Nico? Nico's contract for this year is set, and with Diggs contract off the books after this year, then that money is there starting next year to pay Nico in an extension.
If there isn't, then they traded Minny's 2nd (call it, earlyish to mid probably), for a 5th, a 6th, a compensatory 3rd, and 1 year of Diggs playing in a contract year.
I'm going to go out on a limb then and guess that this might mean an extension for Nico? Nico's contract for this year is set, and with Diggs contract off the books after this year, then that money is there starting next year to pay Nico in an extension.
GregR
Footballguy
So just the draft picks involved, using Chase's chart. And not discounting future year picks as being worth less:
10.8 - Minny's 2nd (call it pick 42 same as they had this year
5.3 - Compensatory late 3rd (call it pick 99)
2.3 - 5th round pick 160 same as Bills have this year
1.2 - 6th this year pick 189
10.8 vs 8.8 just on the expected draft picks. So 2.0 point difference. Which is the value of pick 5.31, pick 166.
So you could say we're renting 1 season of Diggs for a late 5th round pick plus his salary ($22.5m).
ETA: This assumes we don't sign a big free agent that negates the compensatory pick
Edit again to add: If they don't get the compensatory pick, then he's costing about the equivalent of the 3.10 pick.
10.8 - Minny's 2nd (call it pick 42 same as they had this year
5.3 - Compensatory late 3rd (call it pick 99)
2.3 - 5th round pick 160 same as Bills have this year
1.2 - 6th this year pick 189
10.8 vs 8.8 just on the expected draft picks. So 2.0 point difference. Which is the value of pick 5.31, pick 166.
So you could say we're renting 1 season of Diggs for a late 5th round pick plus his salary ($22.5m).
ETA: This assumes we don't sign a big free agent that negates the compensatory pick
Edit again to add: If they don't get the compensatory pick, then he's costing about the equivalent of the 3.10 pick.
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GroveDiesel
Footballguy
Correct. Because they shortened his contract, Diggs is not compensatory eligible.
All this was to make him happy and motivated for the one season they paid a second and $22M for him.
Really surprised at the lengths the Texans took. Gave him a $3.5M raise, made him an UFA FA and even took Jimmie Wards jersey number from him. I mean that's kind of wow to me.