Texans have been without a WR1 since they traded Hopkins. Cooks is a #2, Woods was a #2 but lost a step or three. Nico has had a few good games, but he’s had many more disappointing no-show games and is a #3 type. Noah Brown has had some games too and would be a respectable WR4, even pushing Nico for WR3 (especially if Nico thinks he should get paid in a year). Tank has been awesome and could be a badass #2 in the Reggie Wayne role, but we need to go get a Marvin Harrison type WR1.
Schultz was great when healthy. Great value on a one year deal. If you are an Astros/analytics fan, you have to question the wisdom of handing out a multi-year contract near the top of his position pay to a TE though.
I guess if the plan is go all-in during the next 4 years of Stroud’s rookie deal (5 more years if they franchise tag him rather than extend him early, which won’t happen), then you go Rams style and grab (overpay) as many playmakers at WR, TE, DL, and DB as possible. The cycle keeps repeating with most star QBs. Draft a star QB, if you have a very good team around him you can go to the Super Bowl. Once he gets into his $50m/yr contract, the talent surrounding him drops and the team is less competitive. Cowboys lost a lot of players after Dak’s extension and had a dip. Chiefs had to lose Tyreek and defense players, and they are all on Mahomes’s shoulders with a fighter’s chance. The Bills are starting to decay. Bengals and Chargers are approaching that time as their young QBs’ contracts start impacting the cap. We’ll see how the Eagles do, since they seem to have drafted well plus had extra picks from good trades.
That is not an advantage for the Texans, who burned #1’s on Stingley and hurt aggy, then overpaid AZ for Anderson’s pick. They need to hit on their picks and free agent signings if they want to win playoff games, and my faith in Caserio is still low. Demeco and staff have been mostly awesome though