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We can all see how moments on the field can impact the NFL for years to come. In 2018, the Rams went to a Super Bowl and failed to score a touchdown against the Patriots, which started an overhaul of their running game and eventually led to the decision to trade quarterback Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford. Three seasons later, Stafford’s now-famous no-look pass to Cooper Kupp helped set up the game-winning touchdown against the Bengals in Los Angeles’ title game return.
What’s tougher to see, perhaps, is how moments and situations off the field can eventually lead to dramatic changes across the entire league. One team’s decision or behavior might directly or indirectly lead to another team making a dramatic, unexpected change. The NFL landscape can be altered years after the fact by a single decision made thousands of miles away.
A pair of recent moves from the 2022 offseason led me to trace a path all the way back to October 2017. You can make a case that the owner of one team eventually caused two players on two other teams to be traded away. I’m going to lay out the timeline on how the Texans might very well have been responsible for the trades of Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill.
June 2017: Duane Brown doesn’t report to mandatory minicamp
The two huge wide receiver trades we saw in March somehow all date back to a left tackle holding out. After the 2016 season ended, reports suggested that Brown, a nine-year veteran who had made three consecutive Pro Bowls for Houston between 2012 and 2014, wanted to renegotiate his deal. With two years and $19.4 million remaining on his contract, the 31-year-old was likely hoping to lock in one more significant extension as he exited the typical peak years for offensive tackles.
The Texans didn’t budge, citing a policy of not giving out extensions with two years to go on a player’s deal. Most teams have a similar sort of policy, although they can be flexible when desired. (Then-Texans general manager Rick Smith, as an…
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Source : espn
