Over the past three years, the Houston Texans have fallen victim to internal dismantling. Poor trades and the inability to satisfy cornerstones of the franchise crippled the team. Now, despite claiming the AFC South in four of the past five seasons, the Texans could face a sharp decline in 2020.

In 2017, issues between Texans head coach Bill O'Brien and general manager Rick Smith came to a head. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle called the relationship “toxic.” Following the season, Smith stepped away from the game, and Houston hired Brian Gaine as GM. The team also extended O'Brien's contract.

However, the relationship was short-lived. The Texans fired Gaine less than 18 months into his time as the team's GM. The organization waited until after the NFL Draft to relieve Gaine of his position in early June. His firing came after an 11-5 season and amidst controversy surrounding Jadeveon Clowney's future with the team.

Instead of finding an immediate replacement, the Texans elected not to fill the GM position. With no permanent GM, O'Brien took the position's power for himself. In January, the Texans officially added the GM title to O'Brien's role, giving him total control over roster decisions.

Since 2017, Houston's front office made a consistent trend of mistakes and alienated some of the team's best players. O'Brien trading DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona on Monday is only the most recent example of these failures.

Issues began before Smith's final season as the team's GM. The team's former All-Pro left tackle, Duane Brown, held out into the 2017 season. Per the Houston Chronicle‘s John McClain, Houston knew about the contract dispute as early as July, but Smith claimed, “There is no contract dispute. Duane is under contract for two more years. That's our position.”

With Deshaun Watson entering his rookie season, Houston failed to satisfy Brown, subjecting the rookie quarterback to unnecessary punishment. Brown did end his holdout in mid-October and appeared in Houston's Week 8 loss to Seattle.

Facing future disputes, the Texans traded Brown to the Seattle Seahawks along with a 2018 fifth-round pick. In return, Houston received a 2018 third-round pick and a 2019 second-round selection.

Brown's departure became the first in a series of failings that set the Texans back years. With the left tackle position now vulnerable, O'Brien went fishing for a replacement in 2019.

By that point, O'Brien held all of the power. He struck a deal with the Miami Dolphins, sending a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2021 second-round pick to Miami. Houston included Johnson Bademosi and Julie'n Davenport in the trade package. In return, the Texans received Kenny Stills, a 2020 fourth-rounder, a 2021 sixth-rounder, and left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

The head coach traded away Houston's future for Tunsil and an unreliable wide receiver. The move also ensured the Texans would pay Tunsil whatever he asks for when his rookie contract ends in 2021. While he made the Pro Bowl in 2019, Tunsil could ask for a deal worth $16.5 million annually next offseason. He will get paid like the best left tackle in football, even though he doesn't crack the top five.

O'Brien made another bone-headed move before the 2019 season. The Texans franchise tagged Clowney as an outside linebacker instead of as a defensive end, costing the Pro Bowler roughly $3 million.

O'Brien told reporters, “Until he decides to come in and sign the tender, really the ball's in his court relative to playing for the Texans and all those things, just like it's been since the beginning of training camp. He's a franchise player and so until he comes and signs the tender, really there's nothing really else to talk about.”

Amidst rumors that Clowney potentially holding out, the Texans traded him to Seattle for Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo, and a 2020 third-round pick. The former first overall pick became the second disgruntled player Houston traded to the Seahawks for less than his true value.

While Brown's clashes with management and Clowney's search for a massive payday are understandable, fans cannot excuse O'Brien's most recent trade. On Monday, the Texans traded Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. In exchange for one of the best receivers in football, Houston got David Johnson, a 2020 second-rounder and a 2021 fourth-rounder.

The Texans traded away a consecutive three-time First Team All-Pro for almost nothing. At the very least, Hopkins is worth a first-round pick. Instead, Houston will accept Johnson's $10.2 million base salary in 2020. Johnson is entering the second year of a three-year $39 million extension he signed with Arizona in 2018.

After a breakout year in 2016, Johnson averaged 3.6 yards per carry over the past three seasons. Arizona benched him for Kenyan Drake in 2019. The Texans could've re-signed Carlos Hyde or even Lamar Miller for less than they're paying Johnson. While the former All-Pro could return to glory in 2020, that seems like a pipe dream.

A few months removed from displaying an offense featuring Hopkins, Hyde, and Watson on the field, two members of the trio are gone. Now, Watson must rely on the injury-prone Will Fuller or Stills as his top wide receiver. It's as though O'Brien forgot his team won ten games in 2019 and decided to start a rebuilding process.

In the trades for Brown, Clowney, and Hopkins, the Texans did not receive a single first-round pick. Yet, the team still threw two first-rounders at Miami for Tunsil, who isn't under a long-term contract. In every scenario, Houston lost value and found themselves on the losing end of significant deals.

Houston came in first place in the NFC South in four of the last five seasons. With Watson at quarterback and J.J. Watt on defense, this team should be competing for championships. Instead, O'Brien and the organization's revolving door of GMs continue setting the team back.

Understandably, Brown, Clowney, and Hopkins all had various issues with the organization. For instance, John McClain reported that Hopkins' contract led to disputes with the team's upper management. However, it is the GM's job to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with the team's superstar players. Smith, Gaine, and now O'Brien all failed in that respect.

In 2017, the Texans entered the season with Brown, Clowney, and Hopkins all on the roster. Now, those three players are gone. The franchise will pay a ridiculous amount of money to Tunsil next offseason, and Watson's new deal won't be far behind. Frankly, the handling of these situations set the team back at least half a decade.