The Texans are going without a General Manager this season after firing Brian Gaine and being blocked in their bid to interview Patriots exec Nick Caserio, which leaves the G.M. responsibilities divided between a variety of people in the organization.
One of those responsibilities is handling trade discussions with other teams and that was a need that came up this week as the Texans moved to acquire running back Duke Johnson from the Browns.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that head coach Bill O’Brien was the man in charge of making the deal happen on the Houston side. O’Brien worked with Browns G.M. John Dorsey and agreed to send a 2020 fourth-round pick with conditions that can bump it to a third-round choice to Cleveland in exchange for Johnson.
O’Brien butted heads with Gaine about some personnel decisions and had a rocky relationship with Gaine’s predecessor Rick Smith as well. With control over the 53-man roster and trade decisions, O’Brien can only have beefs with himself about the team’s personnel this season.