Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills have been traded to the Houston Texans while the Miami Dolphins get a goldmine of draft picks. Trade grades for both teams.
When the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans were initially talking about a Laremy Tunsil trade, the thought was that it would involve Jadeveon Clowney. But after Clowney said he wouldn’t go to Miami, that seemed to all fall through, especially when the edge rusher was then dealt to the Seahawks.
Now we know that the Dolphins and Texans just got back to the drawing board to make a trade work.
As reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero, the Dolphins are sending Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills and fourth-round pick to Houston. In return, Miami gets a bounty that includes two first-round picks, a second-round pick and offensive tackle Julien Davenport.
Let’s take a look at the trade to get the full picture.
Furthermore, the Texans will also send the Dolphins a special teams ace, Johnson Bademosi, as part of the trade.
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With all of that in the air, let’s take a look at what this means for each team and assess a grade for both the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins in this trade.
Houston Texans Trade Grade
It certainly makes much more sense as to what the Texans got in return for Jadeveon Clowney after seeing this trade. They had something in the works still and knew they could greatly improve their offensive line while also getting a plus player on their receiving corps.
And really, it’s hard to deny just how much that Tunsil and Stills are going to help this team. The Texans’ most important asset for their future and even the present is Deshaun Watson. They hadn’t done enough to protect their investment in him previously but Tunsil immediately changes that. Not only is he a high-caliber left tackle right now but he’s still incredibly young with a bright future ahead.
Furthermore, Stills is a great complement in the passing game to a player like DeAndre Hopkins. Yes, Will Fuller V is also a speed threat but his inability to stay healthy has been troublesome. Stills gives Houston’s offense another weapon and an insurance policy too.
The only reason that the Texans don’t receive top marks, though, is because of just how much they gave up. That’s an exceptional haul they gave the Dolphins, even for a premium player at a premium position and supplemental pieces. Even still, it’s a great move for a team eyeing a deep playoff run as they address their issues.
Grade: B+
Miami Dolphins Trade Grade
Look, it might be hard to accept that the Dolphins traded for Josh Rosen this offseason and now are taking away their best offensive lineman. That’s a tough pill to swallow. But when you look at where Miami is currently at with their roster, it’s clear that they are readying for a full rebuild.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter for the Dolphins for a reason. They aren’t trying to put a young player like Rosen in a bad situation, which would’ve been the case with or without Tunsil. Now, the Dolphins have more assets to try and build a team in new head coach Brian Flores’ image and go from there.
It remains to be seen if they’re going to stick with Rosen or use their newfound embarrassment of riches in terms of draft capital to make a move on a quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa in 2020 or Trevor Lawrence in 2021. Either way, they are opening up their options in a major way to spearhead a successful rebuild.
Make no mistake, the Dolphins were going to be bad in 2019 and now, without Tunsil and Stills, they’re going to be even worse. But if you’re looking at the long-game, which Miami clearly is, the team served their purpose quite well with this trade.
Grade: B+