When the Texans' courtship of New England Patriots top executive Nick Caserio fell through this past offseason, the thought was simple: Houston would wait until after the draft and hire Caserio then. That does not appear to be the plan, anymore.
Sources say that the Texans plan to continue this offseason and beyond with their current personnel structure rather than hire a true general manager in title. Coach Bill O'Brien has final say, though he essentially works with the team's executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby to be in charge of football operations.
Thus, tonight's showdown between Houston and New England won't feature the Texans future GM watching from a rival coaching box, after all. A tense situation that included a tampering charge this spring is poised to end without incident.
Currently, O'Brien and Easterby run things, while the rest of the duties are divvied up. Chris Olsen, the VP of Football Administration, does contracts and deals with the salary cap. And Matt Bazirgan runs player personnel.
It's a unique setup, but one that has worked for the Texans.
And while many of their offseason moves received immediate criticism, the benefit of time has been much more positive.
Trading a conditional fourth-rounder that turned into a third-rounder for running back Duke Johnson was a lot, but he's been an essential part of their offense. A trade for running back Carlos Hyde in exchange for reserve offensive lineman Martinas Rankin gave Houston its starting back and leading rusher.
The big one was the Laremy Tunsil trade, which sent Miami two first-round picks and more for Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills and more picks. That trade is no longer an outlier, considering the Rams did a similar trade to land Jalen Ramsey. Meanwhile, Tunsil has solidified the offensive line and impressed. The Texans traded away two first-rounders, but there are ways to get that back.
They traded Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks for a third-rounder and two players, and while Clowney has played great for Seattle, that was the market given the time of year. Houston turned that third into cornerback Gareon Conley. All in all, they seem to like the way it is.
It won't be a setup like the Patriots, where Bill Belichick is at the head. But the situation Houston has now appears to be one it wants to use going forward.
Follow Ian Rapoport on Twitter @RapSheet.
