Battle Red Blog
Would trading an all-pro make the Texans better?
We are in the dog days of winter. It’s cold outside. Spring training has just begun in baseball, so pitchers and catchers are just working. The NBA is on the last throws of its worthless all-star break. The NFL calendar hasn’t flipped yet, so here we are. There is literally nothing good to talk about. It is in these moments where we can run through some fascinating thought experiments.
So, here is a simple question: should the Texans trade Laremy Tunsil? The answer would seem to be simple. The Texans offensive line sucked last year and he was the only all-pro on the line. What in heck would they be smoking if they traded the best lineman on a line that sucked so horribly? We should start with some obvious points. The first obvious point is that the Pro Bowl is an elected position. You are not necessarily elite just by virtue of being in the Pro Bowl.
According to PFF, 81 players qualified with enough plays to be considered for their tackle ratings. Tunsil was the 19th ranked tackle according to them overall with a 78.1 overall grade. That’s in the top 25 percent, so he is legitimately good, but is he a legit elite offensive tackle? Well, he had the third highest pass protection grade with an 89.1 grade. So, he is an elite pass blocking tackle. His run grade was a more pedestrian 74.0 which placed him 21st amongst regular tackles.
So, the first problem is that he is being paid top five tackle money when he isn’t performing like a top five tackle overall. So, could those resources be put to better use? Well, let’s start with the obvious question: what would the offensive line alignment look like without him? Obviously, Tytus Howard would likely move to left tackle (39th out of 81) and Blake Fisher (79th out of 81) would move to right tackle. That’s not ideal on the right hand side, but maybe new coaching unlocks something and players always grow most between year one and year two.
The second question is what might the Texans get for Tunsil. They traded two first and a third to get him. That seems nuts to consider, but maybe they could get a second rounder for him. Obviously, a second rounder should probably be a starting quality player if you trust your scouting department.
The third consideration is what it does to your salary cap. This is where things get dicey. Since you extended him before last season, there will be quite a bit of dead money that gets transferred to the cap. According to overthecap.com, you would take on 15 million in dead cap if you traded him now. It would save you 13.85 million on the salary cap this year. based on their current cap situation, they are estimated to have as much as 22 million available if the cap is raised to 281 million as some...
