Report: Texans were close to James Bradberry trade, but couldn’t agree on contract

Any hope the Giants had about trading cornerback James Bradberry came to an end on Monday when they announced his release.

Bradberry’s departure was expected because the Giants needed the $10 million-plus in cap space that came with it, but they were trying to salvage something for a player who was a starter on their defense the last two seasons. They were reportedly close to doing so before things went south with the Texans.

Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.come reports that the Giants had agreed to trade Bradberry to Houston for a late-round pick, but that idea got scrapped when the Texans and Bradberry could not agree on contract terms. Bradberry is in the final year of his current deal and an extension would lessen the cap hit the Giants were trying to avoid, but Bradberry was not interested in an extended stay in Houston.

Duggan adds that the Giants would have also been willing to pick up some of Bradberry’s salary in order to facilitate the trade and get a better pick, but the Texans weren’t interested in that option. They added Derek Stingley at cornerback with the third overall pick in the draft.

Bradberry is now free to sign with any team and, given how things have played out, it seems unlikely that it will be the Texans.