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The Houston Texans needed a better answer at running back. The Detroit Lions were seemingly on the outs with David Montgomery after a successful three seasons together.
Therefore, Monday’s trade between the Lions and Texans made sense. Montgomery goes to Houston for a fourth-round pick, a seventh-round pick and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, according to NFL Media.
The additions might make sense, but the subtractions leave more questions as we grade each side of the trade:
Lions get picks and OL help
The initial speculation was the Lions could settle for a fifth-round pick for Montgomery, so getting a fourth and a seventh seems like a pretty good haul. Montgomery has been a good back, but he’ll also be 29 years old next season and his $6 million cap number wasn’t cheap for a clear backup (albeit a heavily used one) for Jahmyr GIbbs.
Scruggs is a former second-round pick and has 20 starts in three seasons, but couldn’t crack the starting lineup for the Texans last season and was expendable. He’ll add depth at guard and was practically free for the Lions, given the draft-pick compensation was the key to the deal.
But the Lions now have to figure out who backs up Gibbs. It’s a team that relies on its run game, and while Gibbs has been durable, he’s also a 202-pound back and the Lions don’t want to run him into the ground. Montgomery was an effective player in his role and he won’t be easy to replace. It seems like a good deal for the Lions, but let’s see how they plan to replace Montgomery.
Grade: B
Texans get a RB upgrade
It’s fine to seek out a running back who has more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage and 33 total touchdowns over the last three seasons. Montgomery is a good player. He runs tough between the tackles and is also a capable receiver. Because he was splitting time with Gibbs, he also has fewer miles on him than a normal 29-year-old running back.
The problem isn’t Montgomery. It’s the Texans’ offensive line.
Scruggs was out of favor in Houston, but trading him and fellow lineman Tytus Howard to the Browns on Monday doesn’t help Houston’s offensive-line issues. The Texans’ offensive line ranked 27th in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Focus, which was actually an improvement after a horrific 2024.
Montgomery put up good numbers running behind the Lions’ elite line, and the Texans’ line will be far from elite.
Maybe the Texans’ moves will make more sense later on in the offseason, when their plan to upgrade the offensive line is more clear. It might make trading a valuable draft pick to get Montgomery as an upgrade to Woody Marks (who looked good at times as a rookie last season) make more sense. It’s not bad to go get Montgomery. But his talent might be wasted if the offensive line isn’t improved.
Grade: C-