For most Steelers fans, the news that Pittsburgh traded OL Kendrick Green to the Houston Texans prior to the deadline for final roster cuts yesterday came as a bit of a shock. Many fans and media members covering the team expected Green to get cut, having had a tough time establishing himself in Pittsburgh since getting drafted in the third round in 2021. GM Omar Khan managed to ship Green to Houston for a 2025 sixth-round draft pick, getting something for a player many expected to return no value to Pittsburgh.
Aaron Wilson, who covers the Texans for KPRC 2 Houston, hopped on 93.7 The Fan today and spoke more about the Green trade from the Texans’ perspective. When asked how the Steelers managed to get the Texans to give up a draft pick for Green, Wilson responded bluntly. Houston was operating from a scarcity mindset, he said, looking at a player it liked in the pre-draft process a few years ago.
“Desperation,” Wilson said on 93.7 The Fan. “It’s not that they’re blind. They also wanted to draft him and did a significant amount of work. So, they were gonna pick him the year he was coming out of Illinois. And so, they’ve liked him for a long time and the Texans think he fits Bobby Slowik’s offense much better than he does Pittsburgh. And that was something that kept being said to me today.
But, you know, where Pittsburgh… maybe they have some better players, here especially with Kenyon Green going on Injured Reserve and Juice Scruggs out for two to four weeks, the Penn State lineman they picked in the second round. They really need him. So, I understand it’s a sixth rounder, but it’s the sixth rounder next year in 2025. So, who knows? Maybe you get it back in another trade. I think I see the perception and of course I get it, but I don’t think it’s that bad. I mean, it’s a sixth-round pick, you know?”
Wilson was the first to report that Texans GM Nick Caserio was considering drafting Green back in 2021, having interest in him as a college prospect as well as an NFL player, stating that he was more competitive as a starter than people make out that he was in a recent press conference. Wilson also mentioned the big issue for Houston as they have been decimated by injuries during training camp, losing starting G Kenyon Green for the season as well as projected starting C Juice Scruggs for the next two to four weeks. Factor in that the Texans also lost C Scott Quessenberry — he suffered a torn ACL and MCL earlier in training camp — and their offensive line is hurting across the board.
“I mean, as they say, man’s one man’s trash, there’s another man’s treasurer or vice versa,” Wilson said. “I think it’s just for them, you know, they are desperate. They had to get a lineman.”
When you are desperate, you find yourself reaching for a player or making a trade for a player that isn’t of great caliber. We saw this last season when Pittsburgh traded WR Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears, who needed wide receiver help, landing a second-round draft choice for him. However, the Steelers have been on the opposite side of the coin in the past, drafting CB Artie Burns and S Terrell Edmunds earlier than they should have gone due to positional need.
Wilson is correct that a sixth-round pick in 2025 isn’t much of a price to pay for Green as the Texans could easily acquire a late Day Three pick back if they so choose to. As we mentioned in a previous post, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, like Wilson’s point of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For the Steelers, they were able to dump Green on a team that had a need for him and valued him more than they did, getting draft capital in-exchange for a player who failed in Pittsburgh. The deal works out for all parties involved. Green gets a fresh start, Pittsburgh recoups value on a missed draft selection, and Houston gets the depth on the offensive line they desperately need.
