2026 NFL trade grades: David Montgomery, Tytus Howard

NFL free agency begins March 9 with the legal trading window, but the action has already begun. The Jets and Titans made the first big move of the offseason last week, with New York sending Jermaine Johnson to Tennessee for defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. The Texans and Browns followed Monday, with Houston sending offensive tackle Tytus Howard to the Browns for a fifth-round pick. And the Lions made a surprising move later Monday, trading running back David Montgomery to the Texans for guard Juice Scruggs and two draft picks.

ESPN Analytics Editor Seth Walder evaluates the biggest signings and trades of the offseason, putting each deal into perspective for teams and players. To determine each grade, Walder evaluates moves based on several factors, including on-field impact, salary cap implications, compensation, player value/age and the context of a team’s short- and long-term prospects. How big is the effect of this decision and how sure are we that it is a good or bad choice? How does this affect a team’s chances of winning the Super Bowl, this season or in the future?

Follow along as Walder evaluates and grades each move, with the most recent grades at the top. Let’s start with the Montgomery agreement.

More coverage:
Top 50 free agents | Best Free Agent Fits

Access a notable offer:
Montgomery-Scruggs | Howard
Johnson-Sweat

The Texans get: Running back David Montgomery
The Lions obtain: G Juice Scruggs, 2026 fourth-round pick, 2027 seventh-round pick

Texans rating: D
Lions rating: A

At one point this offseason, the Texans needed to add a running back to pair with second-year big man Woody Marks. They chose to do this early on by acquiring Montgomery. Houston’s running game was abysmal in 2025, ranking 31st in the EPA by designed carry. Their running back play wasn’t ideal, but the main culprit for that poor performance was an offensive line that ranked 32nd in point block win rate. Although Marks averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, he still recorded 31 rushing yards above expectations, another sign that the offensive line was the problem.

In Montgomery, the Texans are acquiring a reliable veteran who recorded 125 rushing yards above expectations with Detroit in 2025, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. But his role has continued to diminish in recent years with the emergence of Jahmyr Gibbs. In Montgomery’s 14 games played in 2023, he appeared on 48% of snaps and carried the ball 219 games. In 2025, these figures fell to 37% and 158 respectively, despite playing 17 matches. Montgomery’s receiving work was also limited because of Gibbs – as his 24 receptions last season were far from the 54 he already caught with the Bears in 2020.

Montgomery’s contract is reasonable: He will cost Houston $6 million in cash this year (and $9 million unguaranteed next year) if he goes untouched. But that doesn’t mean it was a smart acquisition. An aging fullback (29 years old in June) whose previous team had phased him out is not worth spending any real resources on. It surprises me that Detroit was able to attract a four-seven trade here, since the Texans could have found comparable expected production for much less.

Scruggs is a throw-in project for Detroit. The 2023 second-round pick has bounced around the interior of Houston’s offensive line. At guard, he ranks in the 24th and 26th percentiles in pass block win rate and run block win rate, respectively. The results at the center in 2024 were even worse, as it was third percentile in both measurements. Scruggs has one year left on his rookie contract, but the draft picks should be more than enough here for the Lions. They can use that capital to find another running back to complement Gibbs late in the draft or find a low-cost veteran in free agency. It’s as easy a win as the Lions will find all offseason.

Brown people get: Tytus Howard
The Texans get: 2026 fifth round pick

Brown category: D+
Texans rating: A-

One offensive lineman going down, four more to play for the Browns. By acquiring Howard, an offensive tackle who occasionally kicked inside to guard during his seven NFL seasons, Cleveland began the massive rebuild of its offensive line. But was it worth it? I have a hard time seeing how.

With six free agents on the offensive line, the Browns will look a lot different in the trenches in 2026, and they are right to get going immediately. There’s a good chance the Browns have a young, developing player at quarterback — whether it’s Shedeur Sanders or someone else — and keeping that player straight is key.

Howard’s exact role is unknown due to his flexibility and how the Browns approach their other holes out of the gate, but right tackle seems to be the safest bet since that’s where he has played most often.

Howard ranked in the 24th percentile for pass block win rate while tackling and the 31st percentile for run block win rate while tackling last season. He was also below average in both areas in 2024. That hasn’t been the case. always This has been the case – Howard ranked in the top 10 in pass block success rate while tackling in 2021 and 2022. But we’re several seasons in, and he’s scored poorly in run blocking in each of those seasons.

So the Browns will likely have a subpar starter. And it’s not cheap. Howard is set to make $17.5 million in 2026 (the final year of his contract) and is now signing a two-year, $45 million extension, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Browns were less than $1 million under the 2026 cap before this deal, according to OverTheCap.com, although their cap obligations ease a bit in 2027. But is that where they want to spend their resources, giving up a fifth-round pick to pay what could be an excessive deal for a below-average starter? This is not how I would like to start the offseason.

This continues a recent trend of offensive line turnover for the Texans, but I don’t mind this move for them. Houston needs better blocking, both to protect quarterback CJ Stroud and generate a running game to support him. He was last in the NFL (32nd) in run block win rate, 30th in pass block win rate and 26th in yards gained before contact on running back runs last season.

Howard has played both right tackle and left guard for the Texans, who have plenty of open spots along the offensive line with Ed Ingram and Trent Brown set to become free agents. They’ll need to add offensive line help at some point and need to put money aside to pay Will Anderson Jr – and probably Stroud too. So getting a fifth round pick to not pay Howard seems like a good deal.

The jets get: DT T’Vondre sweatshirt
The Titans get: Edge Jermaine Johnson

Jet quality: A-
Titans ranking: C-

For all their flaws, the Jets came away from last year’s trade deadline with two of the best deals of that span. Although hardly on the same scale, they kicked off the 2026 trade season with another smart move by trading Johnson for Sweat in a one-for-one trade.

The last of the Jets’ three first-round picks in 2022, Johnson had a decent sack season in 2023, with 7.5 sacks en route to a Pro Bowl nod. This happened while he was playing for current Titans head coach Robert Saleh, which I suspect is a huge factor in why this deal was made.

But Johnson managed just 5.5 sacks in his other three seasons in New York, despite only playing in three games in 2024 due to an Achilles injury. Advanced passing metrics haven’t been kind to Johnson during his four-year career. His career winning rate is just 8.4% (8.9% last season), while the average starting advantage over that span is 15.6%.

Sweat, a 2024 second-round pick, has been a solid starting tackle for Tennessee. He should help the Jets run defense and provide some nose passing. While his 6.5% win rate at defensive tackle is below average for the position, it’s not bad considering where he lines up. He will join a Jets interior group that includes Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs.

As for Johnson, the Titans need borderline help. But this need is not worth it.

Johnson is playing on his fifth-year option and will cost Tennessee $13.4 million, according to OverTheCap. In contrast, Sweat has two years remaining on his rookie contract and will only cost the Jets $1.6 million and $2.1 million for each of those years, respectively. Sweat is also younger and, in my opinion, has a better chance of being a positive contributor than Johnson. It’s worth it for New York, especially since the Jets will get a player with another year of team control for less money.