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With the NFL trade deadline upon us, it's time for teams to move any pieces they can in order to bolster their rosters for a playoff push into the second half of the 2018 season. The first major domino has fallen, and it's landing in Houston, Texas.
The Houston Texans have traded two draft picks, a fourth-round pick and a seventh rounder, in exchange for former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and another seventh-round pick.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Houston will send draft picks over to Denver in exchange for Thomas. For Denver, they shed $18 million in salary cap space over the next two seasons and open the door for rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton to step into a premier role alongside two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
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The veteran wide receiver will turn 31-years-old on Christmas Day, but it's an early holiday celebration for the Texans landing a much-needed target for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The Texans lost their premier deep threat in Will Fuller V to a torn ACL during last week's win over the Miami Dolphins, so nabbing Thomas at the trade deadline bolsters the Houston passing game opposite DeAndre Hopkins and Keke Coutee in a big way.
In Thomas' nine seasons playing for Denver, the five-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro caught 665 passes for 9,055 receiving yards and 60 touchdown catches and has started all 16 games for the Broncos in every season since the start of 2012.
The former All-ACC wide receiver with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was a first-round pick and won Super Bowl 50 with Peyton Manning at the helm. Thomas brings a serious veteran talent and mentality into Houston, although not everybody is all sunshine and smiles after hearing about the deal going down.
Sitting at 5-3, the Houston Texans and head coach Bill O'Brien are positioned to hang onto their lead in the AFC South division, and they've got a brand new toy to play with for the rest of the season.
Houston's next game? They'll head to Denver to take on Demaryius Thomas' former team on Sunday.
