With the NFL offseason in full swing, that means trade rumors are abundant and there are multiple Houston Texans that could be candidates for a new home.
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Bleacher Report's Matt Holder listed Texans' wide receiver John Metchie III as a wideout who could be moved in the lead-up to summer. Metchie was originally drafted by Houston in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but had to miss his rookie season after being diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL).
Holder said that Metchie could be a candidate to be traded in part because of how crowded the Texans' wide receiver room has gotten in recent years. The Texans have had multiple strong draft classes in a row and that has created a backlog of talent on the depth chart.
Since 2021, Houston has drafted Nico Collins (3rd round, 89th overall in 2021), Tank Dell (3rd round, 69th overall in 2023), Xavier Hutchinson (6th round, 202nd overall in 2023), Jayden Higgins (2nd round, 34th overall in 2025) and Jaylin Noel (3rd round, 79th overall in 2025).
All of this leaves Metchie in an interesting position. Since returning to the gridiron during training camp in 2023, he has only collected 412 yards on 40 receptions and one touchdown. In that time, he has never played more than 50-percent of the offensive snaps for the Texans in a season.
NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reported last August that teams had reached out to Houston regarding the shifty wide receiver after he impressed during the preseason, but a trade never materialized and he remained with the Texans.
The biggest part of this situation is that Metchie is entering a contract year. With little production from him in his first two seasons on the field and the overcrowding of the wideouts room, it's an easy guess that Metchie is a likely candidate to not return next season, barring a career year.
If Houston is looking at moving on from him, they could ship him to another team where he would get more opportunities to prove himself.
