Texans' whiffing on Joe Thuney trade and extension is massive miss from Nick Caserio

The Houston Texans' offensive line was absolutely abysmal during the 2024 season, allowing quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked a whopping 52 times throughout the regular season. To make matters worse, Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Commanders over the offseason and it appears the Texans are hoping their o-line can gel better in 2025.

A move that would have made a lot of sense for Houston would have been to trade for Joe Thuney, who spent the previous four years with the Chiefs blocking for Patrick Mahomes. Before that, he spent five years with the Patriots blocking for Tom Brady and was one of the best in the league at what he did.

The Chiefs traded Thuney over the offseason to the Bears and he was recently signed to a two-year extension, inking a two-year deal with his new team. This feels like a move that Texans GM Nick Caserio could have -- and should have -- made. If the goal is to keep Stroud upright, Thuney is one of the best in the league at ensuring his quarterback does just that.

Nick Caserio should have tried to land Joe Thuney to protect C.J. Stroud

Not only is Thuney spectacular but he's versatile, as indicated last season with him playing both left guard and left tackle for the Chiefs. Kansas City had its own offensive line issues but mostly at left tackle, which eventually led to Thuney having to start there and he held it down there as best as he could.

With the Bears landing Thuney via trade and then only having to sign him to a two-year deal worth $35 million, it sure feels like Caserio could have gotten this done. Again, if the goal is to help Stroud, Thuney would have been the perfect addition to this offensive line.

The hope is that the Texans' o-line can perform better than it did a year ago but adding Thuney, even while losing Tunsil, would have gone a long way in ensuring that Stroud had a better unit upfront. Sure he's 32 years old and closer to the end of his career than the beginning of it but he's versatile, reliable, and would have given Houston a surefire stud on the line.

Caserio deserves the benefit of the doubt but seeing how affordable Thuney ended up being for Chicago makes this another frustrating non-move for Texans fans.