In a surprising move Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded IOL Kendrick Green to the Houston Texans for a 2025 sixth-round draft choice. Pittsburgh managed to get the trade done with Houston prior to the deadline when all 32 teams had to have their rosters trimmed down from 90 to the league-mandated 53-man roster for the regular season, shipping off Green who many expected to get cut from Pittsburgh’s roster.
The trade represents yet another act of sorcery for general manager Omar Khan and the front office who knocked Pittsburgh’s offseason out of the park, signing a slew of outside free agents as well as retaining several of their own. Khan pulled off a trade back in the spring, acquiring WR Allen Robinson II from the Los Angeles Rams for a swap of seventh-round draft picks. Khan just recently completed another deal with Los Angeles the other day, sending OG Kevin Dotson and a fifth-round pick in 2024 and sixth-round pick in 2025 to the Rams in a pick swap, receiving a fourth-round pick in 2024 and a fifth-round pick in 2025 in return for the veteran offensive lineman.
On the outside looking in, it appears that “The Khan Artist” pulled off another highway robbery, getting draft compensation from the Texans for a player that Pittsburgh was most likely going to cut. However, when you look at the variables at play here, you understand how Khan leveraged Pittsburgh’s desire to move Green to Houston who was looking to acquire a player of his services.
Over the course of the preseason, the Houston Texans have suffered some notable injuries along the offensive line as OG Keyon Green suffered a shoulder injury while rookie C Juice Scruggs strained his hamstring against the New Orleans Saints in the preseason finale, putting both players’ availability up in the air for Week One according to NFL insider Aaron Wilson. C Scott Quessenberry suffered a torn ACL and MCL earlier in training camp, leaving Houston’s interior offensive line depth depleted heading into the regular season opener.
According to Wilson, Houston Texans GM Nick Caserio considered drafting Kendrick Green in the 2021 NFL Draft when he was coming out of Illinois, having interest in him as a versatile interior offensive lineman. Given the fact that the pre-draft interest was there from the general manager as well as the number of injuries to their offensive line, you can see where the interest was from Caserio and the Texans to deal a late-round pick in 2025 for Green and not have to go through the waiver process.
Much like his previous trades, Omar Khan leveraged need from the other team and got a deal done to recoup some draft capital for a player not in their long-term plans. They essentially traded up in the next two drafts trading Dotson to the Rams, giving them much-needed offensive line depth with a former starter.
They helped Los Angeles take Robinson off their books for the 2023 season, still making them eat a good portion of the salary but got a veteran wide receiver for cheap. You can even go back to Khan’s trade of WR Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears last season where he leveraged a young, talented receiver to a receiver-needy team, getting them to trade away their own second-round pick which would end up becoming CB Joey Porter Jr.
The Kendrick Green trade is a huge win for Pittsburgh, albeit for a sixth-round pick in 2025. Khan found a team that had a glaring need and knew that the front office liked him coming out, fleshing together a deal that worked for both parties. Give it to Khan to get return even for players that don’t serve any purpose on his current roster. He continues to wheel and deal, improving Pittsburgh’s roster and accumulating more draft capital for the future.
