BRB GroupThink: Say Something Nice About The Texans’ 2020 Offseason

The Texans’ offseason has been a disaster. We all know Bill O’Brien has done an awful job—trading DeAndre Hopkins for an inconceivable return, using cap space to add Eric Murray, Randall Cobb, and now Timmy Jernigan, as well as retaining their own free agents. There has to be something good in there somewhere.

Now that the first wave of NFL free agency is over, I asked the masthead the following question: What was the best move Houston made this offseason?

These are their answers.

MATT WESTON:

For me, it’s the Bradley Roby contract. $12 million a year for a good cornerback was market value this offseason. Roby can play outside. He can play the slot. He’s never going to be incredible or the best cornerback on a great pass defense, but he’s good, and good is worth $12 million a year.

I dig the Timmy Jernigan signing as well. He’s great when he’s healthy. He’s the anti-Bill O’Brien guy. He offers juice as an interior pass rusher, with the quickness and strength to make plays in the backfield. He’s more than just stand up and hold on so the second level can make plays. It’s the perfect signing for the second wave of free agency.

TEXANS THOUGHTS:

If I had to choose, I guess it would be the Kai’imi Fairbairn contract, but even then it was a bit of an overpay. 4 years and $17.6 million with $9 million guaranteed makes him the fourth highest paid kicker in the league. It’ll look better if he gets back to his 2018 level of play, which I think he will now that he has Bryan Anger holding for a full season.

BOB wants to go back to the All Field Goal Offense, I guess. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now with an even more atrocious defense.

MIKE BULLOCK:

The only move I’ve seen that actually made me smile was bringing back Bradley Roby. Sure, he’s not Charles Woodson in his prime or even Johnathan Joseph in his, but he’s far better than the alternatives. Nearly every other move simply lacks the sort of shrewdness a keen-minded GM would make.

Fairbairn is a good kicker, but wow, he’s not that good.

Randall Cobb would be a nice addition if the Texans hadn’t kicked DeAndre Hopkins off the team. Anyone who expects Cobb to replace D-Hop is delusional and doesn’t understand Xs or Os.

AJ McCarron I actually like, but he’s certainly not taking anyone to the promised land on BOB’s watch.

Eric Murray and Phillip Gaines...?

Jaylen Watkins?

Brent Qvale?

Nothing in that list reads like the ingredients of a championship team builders’ kit.

It’s like watching someone get the keys to a Lamborghini. They take it to the shop and swap the engine for a Ford 6.0 diesel and proceed to use the car strictly to go the used book store a block from the house with frequent visits to the most expensive gas stations they can find within a mile radius.

CARLOS FLORES:

For me, it really comes down to keeping Roby and bringing in Timmy Jernigan.

I think I’d have to go with the Roby signing if I have to pick one. Re-signing Roby wasn’t due to letting a better player walk away; it was due to him being a bright spot on a bad secondary last year. Hopefully he can take another step forward in 2020.

That being said, I like Jernigan’s potential if he can stay healthy. He’ll be one to watch this season.

BIGFATDRUNK:

Sigh.

I’m going with Jernigan. I’ve always liked him, and he’s a step up from Brandon Dunn and Angelo Blackson.

These back-to-back offseasons have been tremendously awful for the Texans. Just embarrassing.

KENNETH L.:

The best? Well, that requires context. Context that forces me to look at the bigger picture. That picture is getting scarier and scarier with every decision we make.

Ultimately the best one thing that’s happened this offseason is that we moved up in the 2020 NFL Draft. Obviously not as far as we should have, but it’s better than picking 57th. The best spot in the entire draft is early in the second round. That’s where all the value is. It should be full of first round talents who were snubbed in favor of raw athletes with higher ceilings. The 40th pick acquired from the Cardinals in the DeAndre Hopkins trade is right on the edge of “early”, but it gives us an opportunity to bring in a player we otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance at.

What’s done is done. The way we arrived at the 40th pick will live in infamy, but let’s just pray they get it right.

Which move do you think has been the Texans’ best thus far this offseason?