FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots have agreed to trade long-term righteous Marcus Cannon to the Houston Texans in a deal involving a trade in mid-to-late-round draft picks, sources told ESPN.
Cannon had opted out of the 2020 season and sources said a catalyst for the trade was that he had failed to report to the Patriots for physical training and training – due to COVID-19 considerations – with the other players on the team who joined sign out.
The 6-foot-6,335-pound gun, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, is from Texas. He also played in college with Texas Christian.
The trade cannot be made official until the start of the competition year, which begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Houston currently has two offensive tackle starters under contract: left tackle Laremy Tunsil and 2019 first round pick Tytus Howard. If both remain on the roster before the start of the 2021 season, Howard could go back in. During his rookie season, Howard played the left guard and the left tackle before being moved to the right tackle.
Cannon has appeared in 115 regular season NFL games (69 starts) as well as 19 playoff games (11 starts). He was part of three Super Bowl champion teams in New England that selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 draft.
The Patriots, who previously agreed to a trade for Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle Trent Brown, will save about $ 6.3 million on the salary cap by trading Cannon.
The deal would be the first trade between Patriots coach Bill Belichick and his longtime director of player staff Nick Caserio, who is in his first season as Houston general manager.
The Boston Globe first reported the transaction.
ESPN’s Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.