The Houston Texans became the first team in NFL history to trade all seven of their original draft picks in this year’s 2025 NFL Draft. With these trades, the Texans ended up with nine draft picks.
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General manager Nick Caserio is no stranger to making such decisions, though. Last year, the Texans only used one of their original draft picks. In his four seasons with the Texans, he’s only used five of their original picks. But why such an approach?
Caserio joined ProFootballTalk and spoke with host and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms to explain exactly why.
Caserio told Simms that trading back actually creates more opportunities to find the right players. He explained that when a player they like is available, they aren’t afraid to pull the trigger and give up assets to get a good fit at good value.
“It just gives you more opportunities or shots on goal,” Caserio said.
It’s all about positioning says Texans GM
“You’re not going to hit on any draft pick. For us, it’s about knowing the board, top to bottom, understanding the fit, the potential role is going to be for your team… And it’s really about positioning if you have different roots of players, and where do you have to get to get that player and not being afraid to make moves if you think it’s in the best interest of the team.”
It’s too soon to tell whether the Houston Texans will reap the benefits of all their recent draft trades. The players they’ve acquired in recent years are still in the early stages of their careers. This makes it tough to evaluate the picks and trades with their careers just beginning.
The approach is smart, though: trade down a bit and acquire more draft picks. At the end of the day, the draft and players are unpredictable, so the more players you select, the better your chances of finding a few who will make an impact and be valuable contributors to the team for years to come.
All in all, while some teams aren’t as aggressive as others, no one has been as aggressive in the draft as the Texans. Let’s not forget: Houston did win the last two AFC South titles and has been a winning football team in each of the past two seasons.
