Social Media Reacts to Texans Bold Trade of RT Tytus Howard to Cleveland

The Houston Texans have made an interesting move in a recent trade. Ian Rappoport Reports that the Texans are sending right tackle Tytus Howard to the Cleveland Browns.

Rappoport posted the following to social media on the trade.

"Sources: The #Texans and #Browns have agreed to terms on a trade to send starting RT Tytus Howard to Cleveland in exchange for a fifth-round pick.

Much-needed OL help. Plus, Howard gets a new 3-year, $63M extension in a deal done by @malkikawa and Ethan Lock of @FirstRoundMgmt."

Any time you trade a valuable player it is going to see mixed reviews. Certainly, the Browns are in need of help more than the Texans are, so it makes sense on the Browns' side. For the Texans, the question becomes whether or not it did enough for them.

One Cleveland Browns fan posted, "Texans offensive line hasn’t been good in years, not sure we should be going after their players."

While that take might not be extremely fair, it highlights what some are questioning: "Are the Texans good enough on the offensive to be surrendering offensive linemen for a lower draft pick and a little bit of cap space?"

Per Sean Pendergast of SportsRadio 610 in Houston, the trade to send Howard to Cleveland creates $4 million in cap space. Certainly, that's a drop in the bucket in the short term. In the long term though, it means the Texans will not have to commit to $21 million per year for three years to a right tackle. And ultimately, that may be the driving force behind not retaining him for another season.

The fifth-round pick might not seem much, because the hit rate for fifth rounders is generally lower than higher picks. Still, there are a handful of positions that have produced good players in the fifth-round outside of the publicized success stories typically named. For example, fifth rounders like Dak Prescott and sixth rounders like Tom Brady are certainly not the only ones that have panned out late in the draft.

It seems clear that the move is one that the Texans hope will benefit them in the long term, though it could benefit them in the short term. Houston gets value for a player to which it might not have intended to pay significant money. In addition, it gets a potential immediate impact pick for 2026.

We'll continue to monitor the Texans' moves as the offseason progresses.