Quote:
Originally Posted by htownskinfan
I absolutely hate the Tunsil deal.Living in Houston and being a Texans fan also I was so tired of seeing this guy kill drives with his false start penalties, couldnt wait for him to be gone, And then we trade for him!!? Wtf, Let me repeat, I absolutely freaking hate this deal, he is an absolute drive killer
|
From ESPN Plus (Scored a B-)
The Commanders are not messing around with quarterback Jayden Daniels' rookie contract window. Apparently not satisfied with Brandon Coleman as their left tackle, the Commanders swung for one of the league's most established tackles in Tunsil.
Tunsil is coming off a season with a 93% pass block win rate (10th best) and a 75% run block win rate (39th).
He also led the entire NFL in penalties regardless of position with 19. When doing research for my 100-player MVP story, I got more positive feedback from folks in the league on Tunsil than those numbers would suggest, and I ranked him as the 72nd most valuable player in 2024. Tunsil is consistent, with a 92% or 93% pass block win rate in each of the last three seasons over 48 regular-season games.
The appeal for the Commanders is obvious, as Tunsil makes their offensive line better. By our numbers, Coleman was very solid for a third-round rookie, with above average pass and run block win rates. Tunsil should raise the floor, though.
Does he raise it enough? Maybe? But I'm not totally convinced because this is a significant package going back to Houston. According to our draft pick calculations, a mid-second-round pick and a mid-third-round pick are worth approximately the same as one mid-first-round pick when added together. This is worth a shade less than that because the 2025 third-round selection is late in the round but still, this is serious trade compensation.
Picks can seem abstract, but they represent surplus value that teams have to be careful not to squander. On the flip side, there's an argument teams flush with cap space like Washington must make trades like this in order to get their money invested in good players.
The other piece of good news for Washington is that Tunsil's contract is a value for the Commanders if they leave it alone. He is currently slated to cost them $21.35 million over each of the next two years. That's only a shade more per year than what Dan Moore Jr. just got from the Titans -- and Tunsil is better than Moore. If the Commanders sign Tunsil to a new deal, I would drop their grade, as the value of what they received would be reduced. Tunsil will turn 31 before the season starts, but tackles do tend to last much longer than other positions.
As for Houston, this is a tough pill to swallow because Tunsil was the strength of an otherwise weak offensive line. The interior of the offensive line struggled to protect C.J. Stroud and the running game lacked consistency. So, the timing of this is odd.
However, this is solid return for Tunsil. If one took the numbers I mentioned above, without the qualitative adjustment, getting a second- and third-round pick for him would be pretty good.
But those premium picks have significant surplus value. And I think it's possible that that surplus value exceeds the value of Tunsil's contract. The timing is rough considering the state of the offensive line and the fact that Houston is also in a rookie quarterback window. But I don't hate it.