Bill O'Brien Says Texans Trading Picks for Laremy Tunsil, Duke Johnson Paid off

Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien stands by his aggressive offseason moves, even if they only resulted in a trip to the AFC Divisional Round. 

The squad traded multiple first-round picks for Laremy Tunsil and made deals for running backs Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson before the start of the 2019 season. O'Brien believes these transactions were key in helping the team win games.

"I think that those moves did pay off," the coach said Wednesday, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. "Those guys came in, without mentioning each guy specifically, but I do believe that those guys came in and really entered into our culture of what we're trying to do, learned the systems, tried to go out there and those guys played well."

Tunsil made a Pro Bowl in his first season with the team and helped solidify the offensive line, while Hyde led the Texans with 1,070 rushing yards. Johnson, who will cost a third-round pick, totaled 820 yards from scrimmage.

Kenny Stills also provided value at receiver after coming over in the Tunsil deal as Houston earned its fourth division title in five years.

The question is how these moves will affect the team, since the organization lacks key draft picks to continue building a contender. Hyde is also set to enter free agency this offseason, while Tunsil and Stills have only one more year under team control.

According to O'Brien, he made these moves with an eye toward the future:

"I think any move we make, we try to think about the long term. Now, you could probably pick and choose some moves where maybe contractually it doesn't seem like it's long term, but within the building and within the meeting rooms, we think about it more for long-term purposes as we move forward here. I think all those guys came in and contributed."

Houston has plenty of offensive building blocks between Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and Tunsil, but O'Brien needs to figure out how to take a franchise that has never reached the AFC Championship Game to the next level.