That logic doesn’t mean I prefer draft picks over proven talent at all. My beef isn’t having that particular LT on the team, it’s what it cost to acquire him, pay him, and what it will eventually cost to keep him more than 3 years. A competent GM wouldn’t have been taken to the wood shed in the deal. Hell, a competent GM might not have been in a position to be that desperate in the first place.
I will say that draft picks and the development of them are important in that it helps keep you out of cap hell. You can’t pay everybody, even though the Texans try to. Martin 3rd highest paid center, Fairbairn 4th highest paid kicker, Mercilus’ big pay day, $9M for Cobb, Cooks, David Johnson, etc. You have to have players on the cheap that you can develop.
As for the Hopkins trade, if you thought you were painting me into the picks over talent deal, I’ve made my thoughts well known that it was one of the worst deals in history. And a stupid one for the reasons they gave.
But I’ve also made it known that if you just absolutely had to trade him for whatever reason, that you’ve got to get adequate compensation in return. I can’t think of a single deal in the OB era, that the Texans didn’t get hosed. Carlos Hyde is probably the only one, but then they go and let him walk because they don’t want to pay him $5M. No, they’d much rather pay Johnson $12M.
So I agree that it’s important to have that LT, but what has it really done for this Texans team? This team needs a lot, A LOT. And because of the price paid to get that LT, and the highest paid contract he ended up getting, that plays a part in addressing those lots of needs. And by the time they get their heads above water there, it’ll be contract time again for both Tunsil and Watson. Then what?