Two years ago, the Houston Texans traded Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns and got one heck of a king’s ransom in return. They received three first-round picks, a fourth-round pick in 2022, a third-round pick in 2023, and a fourth-round pick in 2024. The Browns got Watson and signed him to a massive contract that no one would say he’s lived up to.
Since trading Watson to Cleveland, the Texans had a rough year in 2022 but that worked out for them, as they had the second overall pick in the 2023 draft and took C.J. Stroud. The rest is history. The Texans also selected Will Anderson Jr. in that draft with one of the picks they got from the Browns and went on to win the AFC South while later knocking off the Browns in the playoffs. Talk about irony.
Well, now that the 2024 NFL Draft is coming to a close, so does the Watson deal. The Texans have officially used all of their picks acquired from Cleveland in the deal.
After today, the 2022 Texans-Browns Deshaun Watson trade is now complete.
Texans receive:
🏈2022 1st rd pick (became G Kenyon Green)
🏈2022 4th rd pick (RB Dameon Pierce)
🏈2023 1st rd pick (became DE Will Anderson Jr.)
🏈2023 3rd rd pick (became WR Tank Dell)
🏈2024 1st rd pick… pic.twitter.com/GPX1ZCimtI— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2024
Texans/Browns Deshaun Watson trade is in the books
With those picks, the Texans drafted Kenyon Green, Dameon Pierce, Will Anderson Jr., Tank Dell, Kamari Lassiter, Jamal Hill, and Caden Bullock. Out of that bunch, we don’t know what the last three picks will do just yet since they were just drafted but Pierce, Anderson, and Dell have all been big pieces for Houston since entering the league.
Unless the Browns go on to win the Super Bowl with Watson, no one is going to look back and wonder who won this trade down the road. The Texans had two down years without Watson under center and then immediately became Super Bowl contenders again, thanks to the additional picks from Cleveland in this deal.
