Mike Williams, Texans' NFL Trade Targets amid Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins Injuries
Add the Houston Texans to the list of AFC playoff contenders that could be looking for reinforcements at wide receiver before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans announced on Tuesday that Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. Diggs left Sunday's win over the Indianapolis Colts in the third quarter with a non-contact injury when he attempted to make a cut running a route.
The Texans are already playing without Nico Collins due to a hamstring injury. He is eligible to be activated off injured reserve after the team's upcoming game on Thursday against the New York Jets.
Collins' potential return may allow the Texans to get away without taking a big swing prior to the trade deadline, but the offense could certainly use a reliable No. 2 option for C.J. Stroud over the rest of this season.
Tank Dell is having a disappointing sophomore season, averaging just 9.5 yards per reception.
The biggest name who has been cited as a potential trade candidate is Cooper Kupp, but the Los Angeles Rams don't really seem motivated to move him. The odds of them doing so would seem to have decreased after their Week 8 victory over the Minnesota Vikings improved their record to 3-4, just one game back in the win column of tying the other three teams in the NFC West.
Diontae Johnson was perhaps the most-talked about receiver prior to the trade deadline, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported moments after Ryans announced Diggs' injury that the 28-year-old was being dealt by the Carolina Panthers to the Baltimore Ravens.
Potential trade targets we will look at include Mike Williams, Kendrick Bourne and Darius Slayton.
Mike Williams, New York Jets
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Mike Williams was already the most-obvious trade candidate on the block, perhaps even more than Johnson, and his name figures to get bantered about even more now that there have been four wide receivers traded in the past two weeks.
The New York Jets, Williams' current team, has been involved in one of those deals to acquire Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders.
As soon as the Adams deal was finalized, Williams missed one day of practice for personal reasons amid reports the Jets were shopping him in trade talks.
Williams hasn't missed a game since then, but he's been a non-factor in the offense over the past three weeks. He has one reception for 15 yards and has been on the field for a total of 87 offensive snaps since Week 6.
In the first four games of the season, Williams looked like a useful No. 3 target for the Jets. He caught 10 passes for 145 yards. Putting him in a good offensive environment with a better quarterback like Stroud could help elevate Williams' game.
Trading Williams shouldn't be too much of an obstacle since he is playing on a one-year contract with a $1.3 million base salary. He is a big-bodied receiver who can win contested catches, even as age and injuries have made him less of a deep threat than he was at his peak with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots
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Kendrick Bourne's situation is a little more tricky because he is technically under contract through 2026, but his deal with the New England Patriots only contains $5.5 million in guaranteed money with all of it paid in a signing bonus and his 2024 base salary.
Even though giving up one of the few reliable pass-catchers the Patriots have on their roster isn't a great strategy when they are trying to develop a rookie quarterback, Bourne isn't so valuable to them that they should turn down calls if interested teams want to ask about him.
Bourne is still working his way back into game shape after starting the season on the physically unable to perform list due to a torn ACL suffered in Week 8 last year. The 29-year-old played a season-high 52 snaps in Sunday's win over the Jets, though he didn't catch a pass on three targets.
Since the Texans know they can get Collins back sooner than later, pursuing a possession receiver like Bourne to be a go-to target on third downs might be a better strategy than trying to hit a home run on a bigger name like Williams.
Bourne had four touchdown catches in just eight games last season for a Patriots team that had the second-worst offense by points per game in the NFL. He's another physical, win-in-traffic style player that a quarterback like Stroud, with pinpoint accuracy, can take advantage of if he gets brought in.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants
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Despite being the leading receiver for the New York Giants in four of his first five seasons, Darius Slayton frequently gets talked about as a trade candidate. Nothing has come of those rumblings thus far, but the presence of rookie Malik Nabers as the clear No. 1 option could spur the team into action.
Slayton was unhappy with his contract during the offseason and skipped a portion of the Giants' offseason activities waiting for a new deal. He did return before the end of organized team activities and signed a revised contract that still makes him a free agent after this season.
Given the state of the Giants' roster right now—they are 2-6 with the second-worst scoring offense by points per game—their approach before the trade deadline should be to add as many future long-term assets as possible.
Even though Slayton has been an effective player during his first six seasons, his contract unhappiness last offseason suggests he might seek a deal worth more than the two years and $12 million he got from the Giants in March 2023.
It's hard to know how good Slayton really is because the infrastructure around him with the Giants has been a mess for most of his tenure. He's on pace for a career-high 893 receiving yards and has surpassed the 700-yard mark in every season he has played at least 14 games.
One executive told The Athletic's Dan Duggan that Slayton is a player you "add that fortifies your group and you feel good about it" because of his track record with the Giants. Duggan added Slayton's projected trade value falls between a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick.
Putting Slayton in a situation with Collins as the clear No. 1 option could open things up for him to really take off in a way that he hasn't been able to with the Giants.
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