The Houston Texans sit under three weeks away from the NFL trade deadline.
And already before and in the middle of this season, the Texans have been pretty busy on the trade market.
They've brought in Kayshon Boutte from the New England Patriots following the news of Jayden Higgins' season-ending ACL injury, and most recently, they've added Marvin Harrison Jr. to that same receiver room from the Arizona Cardinals.
So given that this front office has already made a couple of noteworthy moves this year as is, there's a world where the Texans stand pat at the deadline later next month. After all, this team is starting to gain some momentum after their last two wins, and if it ain't broke, maybe they don't want to fix it.
But there's also a good chance that Nick Caserio and Co. get aggressive in an effort to set this roster up in a solid position for the short- and long-term. And if that's the route that the Texans want to take at the deadline, there's one move that would make sense for Houston to make–– and it's actually not a move to bring in new talent.
Instead, the Texans should look into one move to sell off some talent; particularly in their receiver room. And two names stick out for that idea: Xavier Hutchinson and Kayshon Boutte.
Why the Texans Need to Consider Trading a WR
When looking at the Texans' current wide receiver room heading into Week 7, you'll notice that this roster has a ton of depth at the position now that Tank Dell is set to return off of injured reserve from his severe knee injury.
Now, having an abundance of depth doesn't have to be a bad thing. For a Texans offense that's seen a fair share of struggles over the past year-plus, that depth can actually be extremely valuable.
But the Texans might now be at a point where they have more depth in the receiver room than they know what to do with: Nico Collins, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Jaylin Noel are all due for their respective snaps, but so are Tank Dell, Kayshon Boutte, and Xavier Hutchinson.
That's six receivers that the Texans could reasonably play on a weekly basis. Three of them are on expiring contracts heading into this offseason, and that doesn't even factor in Jayden Higgins, who is due to return in 2027 to make this position group look even stronger.
So rather than hold onto that depth at the position, and likely leave one or two players hoping for more targets on a weekly basis, why not ship off one of those weapons––preferably on an expiring contract––in the receiver room to claim some value for the future?
It makes too much sense for the Texans to at least consider. Without trading one of those receivers at the deadline, they're virtually guaranteed to lose one, or even multiple, on the free agent market come next offseason. Houston won't have a need to re-sign them, and those guys will want to get paid.
Therefore, it puts the expiring deals of Hutchinson and Boutte firmly on the trade radar (Tank Dell is also an expiring contract, but there's a 0% chance he's on the move any time this season). Even if for a minimal return like a day three pick, the Texans prepare better for the future and unload at a position where they have more depth than they really need.
The trade deadline sits on November 10th at 3 p.m. CT, which gives the Texans more than enough time to consider their options. But if there was one "selling" move for this front office to consider, this would be the idea to execute.
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