The Texans traded five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders for draft picks. Listen here for Clint Stoerner's reaction.
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00:00Sports Radio 610, Houston Texans breaking news.
00:05It's that kind of day baby, he said Houston Texans breaking news, tell you what you got
00:09man.
00:10Oh yeah, and it is a blockbuster Houston, Perk DeMere's a blockbuster of a trade for
00:15your Texans, multiple sources reporting the Texans are finalizing a trade that's going
00:21to send five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laramie Tunsil to the Washington Commanders.
00:27The Texans, they are getting a second rounder and a fourth rounder back from the Commanders
00:33plus a third rounder for this year and Houston is sending Tunsil and a fourth round draft
00:39pick to the Washington Commanders, holy hell, let's talk about it.
00:44This is big, this is big guys, by the way Luke is in for, Luke Morrow is in for Ron
00:50Hughley, look this is one move that I never thought the Texans would make, I didn't think
00:57the Texans would make this move but Tyler you have to pull out the receipts, there were
01:01so many times in the last month, last six weeks where we talked about what could the
01:06Texans do to get real serious about taking the next step and becoming a team that could
01:14hunt down an AFC or even a Super Bowl, what could they do to fix the immediate problem
01:19of the offensive line and getting out of the Laramie Tunsil business was my number
01:27one option.
01:28It was, you tried to tell them Dirty.
01:31Getting out of the Laramie Tunsil business was my number one option for the Houston Texans
01:35in terms of improving as a team, let's talk about this from the team's perspective first,
01:44this is a D'Amico Ryans, Nick Casario, who do they want the identity of the Houston Texans,
01:52what do they want the identity of the Houston Texans to look like, what do they want the
01:57identity of the Houston Texans to actually be, right?
02:02This is a set the standard move, what is the standard on a day to day basis in the regular
02:07season, in the playoffs, in the off season, at OTAs, in training camp, what is the standard
02:14going to be for the Houston Texans and I've said this a million times, D'Amico Ryans is
02:20the only one that would have been capable of fixing the problem, whether it's Bobby
02:24Slowick or Nick Kaley or the O-line coach Cole Popovich, none of those guys were going
02:31to be able to hold the other offensive linemen accountable as long as they were allowing
02:36Laramie Tunsil to beat to the Laramie Tunsil drum, there was no way this team was going
02:46to be a more physical run blocking team or a more physical offensive unit overall with
02:51Laramie Tunsil as the tip of that spear with Laramie Tunsil as the highest paid guy on
02:57the O-line with Laramie Tunsil with the C on his chest, right?
03:01There's no way that the new offensive coordinator Nick Kaley was going to be able to take complete
03:05control of this offense and hold guys accountable and set the standard that he wants to set
03:12with Laramie Tunsil in a Texans uniform, right?
03:15You move to the offensive line, he was the assistant offensive line coach in the same
03:22room as Laramie Tunsil over the last couple years and you want to give that O-line coach
03:32the best chance, the best opportunity to coach this unit, to put his stamp on this offensive
03:42line, you simply weren't going to be able to do it with Laramie Tunsil in the building.
03:46Laramie Tunsil is going to do what Laramie Tunsil wants to do in the regular season,
03:50in the playoffs, in the offseason, he's going to do what he wants to do instead of do what
03:57the team needs him to do.
03:59And this move to me, Luke, is more about the team overall, the identity, the culture, the
04:04physicality.
04:05It's more about fixing the offensive line and allowing the coach, the OC and the offensive
04:09line coach to coach without any kind of resistance whatsoever.
04:14This is a big move for the Houston Texans and I'm a fan of it.
04:18Yeah, I am too.
04:19I'm happy to see it happen.
04:21We discussed this last week when I was in with Ron, just with the Shaq Mason move, just
04:24to see the Texans address this offensive line, acknowledge that what they had was not
04:31good enough, and take some big swings, if you will, of moving on from guys in terms
04:37of the investment.
04:38If you watch these teams, you know obviously Tunsil, Shaq, they haven't been good enough.
04:41But in terms of the commitment, the investment over the years, it is a big move to move on
04:46from it.
04:47And I'm glad they're doing it.
04:48Happy to see the willingness.
04:49I know it's a concern for a lot of fans, were they actually going to be bold enough to make
04:54big sweeping changes on the offensive line?
04:56And the answer is yes.
04:57And it's funny, exciting, and enjoying responses come in on the text line, on YouTube, on everything
05:05with the Texans fans right now listening that are so happy to hear this news.
05:09I think the biggest shock to me isn't that this happened, but it's the fact that DK Metcalf
05:13went for one pick and they just got three picks back for Laramie Tunsil.
05:16Is that what happened?
05:17Is that what I heard correctly, the trade?
05:19Well, they got two picks back and they swapped fours, it sounded like.
05:22You got a two and a three and you swapped fours, is what it sounded like.
05:25Is that right?
05:26Is that right, Tyler?
05:27The latest here, and just to reaffirm from Diana Rossini, she just put this out.
05:31The Commanders get Laramie Tunsil and a 20-25 fourth rounder.
05:35Houston receives a 20-25 third, a 20-25 seventh, 20-26 second, and a 20-26 fourth.
05:43Oh wow.
05:44So the draft pickers, it's more of a haul.
05:46Four picks.
05:47Yeah, giving up one.
05:48So you swapped fours and you got a two, three, and seven.
05:51Yeah, so you get a two in there, which is all DK went for.
05:54Anyways, I know it's apples to oranges, but that's a bit of a surprise to me that you
05:57could get more from him than the Seahawks were able to get for DK Metcalf.
06:01And people always say, you know, they don't know what they're doing in D.C.
06:04I guess it applies to the football team as well for the Commanders to give up such a
06:09package to bring in Tunsil.
06:10Well, here's the deal, is I do wonder, because that's a lot of picks, because they're getting
06:17a great player in Laramie Tunsil, but they're also getting one of the highest paid left
06:20tackles in the game.
06:21I mean, I wonder how much of that contract the Texans agreed to pay.
06:28That's fair.
06:29Like, I wonder if there's another little caveat there of what the Texans also were able, were
06:34paid, or were willing to assume the response track.
06:41That seems like, given that Laramie Tunsil, they got to now pay him 20, I think it's $28
06:45million a year, I think is what it was.
06:47I don't know what it is this year, but just in general, over the life of the contract,
06:51he was one of the higher paid tackles in the game.
06:56That pick exchange seems healthy for the Texans if they didn't agree to pay some of that contract.
07:02So we'll keep you updated on that right there.
07:04I absolutely love the move.
07:05Nick, I mean, Luke, we just talked about in the last segment, because I want to circle
07:10back to this.
07:11I was in the process of putting a positive twist on a negative reality with the Texans
07:17in last year's offseason.
07:19And Luke asked me at the end of that segment, Luke said, do you have confidence that the
07:24Texans, D'Amico and Nick Casario, can make that happen?
07:27And my confidence was, I mean, it was an immediate no.
07:31And I felt really good about that.
07:32This kind of move right here, I can do a 180 real quick.
07:36I can do a 180 real quick when you realize, like, Laramie Tunsil is a really good player.
07:43There's no doubt about it, right?
07:45The reality of it is, you had what some believe is the best pass blocking left tackle in the
07:51game.
07:52And your quarterback was still one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the NFL.
07:58Your quarterback was still sacked more times than anybody not named Caleb Williams.
08:04So that clearly wasn't working out.
08:07You got to get better across the board.
08:10And $28 million parked in a left tackle just doesn't seem like the way that this team
08:16can get better.
08:17So they got draft picks, they'll see exactly what that looks like.
08:21And I think the most important part of this Laramie Tunsil trade is you're getting Laramie
08:27Tunsil out of the building, right?
08:30And this sounds super negative towards Laramie Tunsil, and I guess it is to a certain degree.
08:37But when you've got players of that ilk, when you've got players that beat to their own
08:42drum, and you're an organization that in order to take the next step, that particular
08:48position group has to get significantly better, right?
08:51They got to communicate better, they got to be more physical, they got to be more coachable,
08:55they got across the board, they've got to be better.
09:01And again, you've got the highest paid guy with a C on his chest, doesn't bring to the
09:06table what you need brought to the table for your offensive line as a group to make
09:13that level of improvement, make that level of jump.
09:16That's just the facts.
09:17Laramie Tunsil was going to show up and be one of the best pass protecting left tackles
09:20in the game.
09:21No doubt about it.
09:22He was going to lock down his position.
09:24No doubt about it.
09:25He has the ability to take some of the best pass rushers in the game and keep them completely
09:29out of the box score himself, right?
09:32The problem is when you got a C on your chest and you got 25 plus million dollars wrapped
09:37up in that player, I need that player to make the guys around him better.
09:43I need that player to be the tip of the spear and be talked about the way Joe Tooney was
09:50talked about when he left Kansas City and getting credit for helping the center and
09:55the guard become the players that they actually are, right?
10:00You expect the C on the chest and the highest paid guy on the team to bring to the table.
10:05The reality of it is, in my opinion, I've watched Laramie Tunsil for five or six seasons
10:09now.
10:10I don't think Laramie Tunsil has ever been that guy.
10:11I don't think he will ever be that guy.
10:14Getting out of the Laramie Tunsil business, I think, is the biggest, boldest move.
10:21I'm just keeping it straight right here.
10:26I think getting out of the Laramie Tunsil business is the biggest, boldest move that
10:30the Houston Texans, D'Amico Rynes and Nick Casario, can make to show us, all the media,
10:36their team, the world that they are serious about this team getting better and winning
10:40a damn Super Bowl.
10:41As crazy as that sounds, I wholeheartedly believe that right there.
10:48I think that's fair.
10:50I think it is addition by subtraction.
10:52He led the league in penalties for linemen last year.
10:55That obviously is less than ideal.
10:58We mentioned the money, by the way.
10:59He has a base salary of $21 million for each of the next two seasons.
11:04That was the contract that we'll see if the Texans have to chip in for any of that or
11:08how much of that here over the next two years.
11:09Is that just the base salary?
11:10What are the per-game bonuses?
11:13All those bonuses go with it.
11:14Yeah, you have a roster bonus, there's a workout bonus.
11:17All that goes with it.
11:20Total that up.
11:21This is according to Spotrek.
11:24That's not a whole lot more.
11:25According to this, about half a mil.
11:28The cap hit they have is $21.3 million for each of the next two seasons.
11:35You talk about being the highest paid and the 23rd best tackle in the league.
11:43The juice is no longer worth the squeeze for Tunsell.
11:48As I said, addition by subtraction.
11:50It gives you a chance to try to start over with those draft picks by developing maybe
11:53Fischer.
11:55Who knows?
11:56That might not work out either, but at least you're trying something different.
11:58What we've been seeing hasn't been good enough, hasn't been working, Tunsell hasn't been good
12:02enough.
12:03We all know the definition of insanity and that would be attempting to run back this
12:08group next year.
12:10Happy to see the Texans start clean a little bit.
12:13Clean slate here on this offensive line.
12:15Shaq Mason, Tunsell gone.
12:17Now you have a couple extra draft picks here in the future and you try to recreate this
12:22offensive line because that should be the top priority for this team.
12:26This is the biggest, boldest move they can make to do exactly what you just said, which
12:31is rebuild and build the offensive line with the right identity, with the right physicality
12:35and let the coaches they just hired do their work free of any kind of roadblocks, if you
12:44will, in the form of your highest paid player with a captain on your chest.
12:48I absolutely love this move for D'Amico Rynes and Nick Casario.
12:53This gets me as jacked up as I've been about any move that the Texans hell may have ever
12:57made.
12:58Because let's be honest, when they drafted Deshaun Watson, I liked him, but I wasn't
13:02real sure what the hell they were doing.
13:03When they drafted CJ Stroud, I was on the Bryce, what's his name, what's the kid's name
13:08in Carolina?
13:09Bryce Young.
13:10I was on the Bryce Young train and like CJ, but I was on a Bryce Young train at that point
13:16in time.
13:17Love the will.
13:19Lander Singh, they were moving up to get, yeah, this one right here, this one right
13:23when it comes to giving yourself a chance to win a Super Bowl and get better from second
13:28round of the playoffs and 10 wins in a season.
13:31This one right here can get me good and turned on.