The Houston Texans just missed their chance to bring a major upgrade on their offensive line.

That's because the Indianapolis Colts just shipped out one of the best interior offensive linemen in the NFL, Quenton Nelson, who was traded to the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday afternoon as the first domino to fall in the Colts' potential deadline fire sale.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Seahawks gave up a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick in exchange to bring in Nelson; a major upgrade to Seattle's offensive line that takes their interior to the next level en route to their hopes of another Super Bowl push.

However, when looking at this deal through a Texans-centric lens, it leaves you wondering: what was stopping Houston from going out to make a move like this?

The Texans Should've Traded for Quenton Nelson

Now, to address the obvious, it's not often you see two division rivals make a move with one another, especially for a star-level addition like Nelson is. Perhaps Indianapolis would've been totally unwilling to ship off Nelson to Houston in an effort to boost their hopes of winning the AFC South.

However, in the event that the Colts were open to such an outcome, the Texans certainly would've had a comparable package to Seattle's that could entice Indianapolis to consider them as a trade partner as well. And Houston certainly has a dire need on their offensive line that would warrant a big swing like this one.

Yes, the Texans did just trade for Marvin Harrison Jr. a couple of weeks ago for the steep price of a second-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals. Trading away even more draft capital for an expiring contract like Nelson in an effort to boost a 2-5 team could be seen as a bit too short-sighted.

But the Texans' decision to go out and secure Harrison Jr. earlier this month was seemingly done with the mindset that this team was still to be considered mid-season buyers. One loss against the Giants, while a bad loss, shouldn't totally derail that thought process from Caserio and Co., and should at least leave them open to adding even more talent, if the price is right.

Houston's lead decision-makers have remained outspokenly confident with the core group this team has in place. But with consistent offensive line issues— that were on full display this past weekend in the form of their penalty woes— have always been a recurring issue for the Texans' offense to reach its full potential.

Nelson, through the first seven games of the season with Indianapolis, he's found his way to landing the third-best PFF grade for offensive guards (85.7). He's excelled as a pass-blocker, has allowed just six pressures, one QB hit, and zero sacks through that span. Most importantly, he's been called for just one penalty.

Bottom Line

In retrospect, this was the big swing the Texans should've taken to upgrade their roster; not trade for Marvin Harrison Jr. Nelson fills a major need on the offensive line, could've seamlessly fit in at left guard next to Keylan Rutledge and Ed Ingram on the interior, and would've brought a ton of optimism upfront compared to what Houston has been accustomed to in recent memory.  

Even if Houston had their eyes set on spending a second round pick to acquire Stroud's former Ohio State teammate in Harrison, this team still had enough future draft picks in their war chest to make a push for Nelson on top of their prior move.

They've got a first, a third, and a fourth round pick for this coming draft, have all of their picks outside of a sixth in 2028, and all of their resources in 2029.

A 2027 third-rounder, paired with a 2028 fourth, could've been just enough to beat Seattle's offer, and should've been at least on the table for the Colts to consider.

Instead, the Texans decided to hold off on Nelson. It remains to be seen whether or not a big deadline swing could still be in the cards, but finding an immediate plug-and-play lineman like Nelson is going to be pretty tough to find elsewhere.

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