The Texans also acquired wide receiver Kenny Stills in the deal.
Sunday 1 September 2019 07:39, UK
The Houston Texans have upgraded their offensive line by acquiring left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Miami Dolphins, according to multiple reports.
The Texans continued a busy day of trades with a deal which also netted them receiver Kenny Stills.
The blockbuster deal sees the Texans send first-round picks in 2020 and 2021, a second-round pick in 2021, offensive tackle Julie'n Davenport and cornerback Johnson Bademosi to Miami.
In return, the Houston will receive Tunsil, Stills, a fourth-round pick in 2020 and a sixth-round pick in 2021.
The Texans agreed to a deal to ship 2014 top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks earlier on Saturday.
Houston also acquired running back Carlos Hyde in a trade with Kansas City for offensive tackle Martinas Rankin to add depth after losing starter Lamar Miller to a season-ending knee injury.
Tunsil immediately improves a line which allowed Deshaun Watson to be sacked an NFL-leading 62 times last season.
The 13th overall pick in the 2016 draft has started 44 games for the Dolphins in the past three seasons.
The Texans signed veteran left tackle Matt Kalil in the off-season to protect Watson's blindside, but the 25-year-old Tunsil will be a much better option after Kalil has struggled with injuries for years.
Stills joins a solid receiving group in Houston led by DeAndre Hopkins, which also has Will Fuller and Keke Coutee, who have both missed significant time with injuries.
Stills spent his first two seasons in New Orleans before playing for the Dolphins for the past four seasons.
He has been extremely durable in the past three seasons, starting all but one game.
Stills had 37 receptions for 553 yards and six touchdowns last season after finishing with 847 yards receiving and six scores in 2017.
Stills has 24 touchdown catches in the past four seasons for Miami. But he's in the third season of a $32m, four-year contract, which made him expensive and expendable as the Dolphins rebuild and expect to be also-rans in 2019.
In early August, Stills objected to Ross hosting a fundraiser for President Donald Trump, and said there was a contradiction in the Dolphins owner supporting both the president and racial equality. Stills said he later spoke with Ross and they agreed to disagree while harboring no hard feelings.
Last week, Stills objected to remarks from Jay-Z about social activism by current and former NFL players. The next day Flores had more than half a dozen songs by the rapper played at the start of practice.
Flores expressed a concern that Stills was distracted by "what's going on outside," and said the receiver's performance in training camp had been disappointing.
The Dolphins have repeatedly denied they're tanking in 2019. But they're widely expected to be among the NFL's worst teams, and the trade increases the likelihood they'll secure a high draft pick and take a franchise quarterback in the first round next April.
