IF THE phrase “when one door closes, another one opens” applied to windows, specifically Super Bowl windows — you could bet that the Houston Texans would be paying attention to it.

In a day where the Houston Texans traded away wantaway superstar Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks, for what felt like compliments of the house, it seemed like their Super Bowl window had well and truly been closed — at least temporarily.

The Texans received a third-round pick, pass rusher Barkevious Mingo and linebacker Jacob Martin. To say that the Texans played themselves would ring true, but it would be a total understatement. 

Clowney, despite often being referred to as a disappointment so far in his NFL career, is a stud. A game-changing edge defender who can attack the quarterback and stop the run — he might even be the best run-stopping defender in the NFL today. 

He’s versatile, can play all along the defensive line and — here’s the kicker — is still only 26 years old.

Sure, he held all of the leverage, refusing to sign his tender in order to be more commanding with who he could sign with, but the Texans royally messed up this trade, and in doing so, looked like they had put their whole season in jeopardy. 

Everyone knew the area of need for the Houston Texans — the offensive line. Their season hinged on the ability to protect quarterback Deshaun Watson, something they haven’t done in his first two seasons in the league. 

Watson was sacked 62 times last season, an incredible amount that stacks up as the fifth-highest number of times a quarterback has been sacked in a single season in NFL history.

It isn’t the first time the Texans have lacked the self-awareness to protect the team’s catalyst and most important player.

Former No 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft David Carr, older brother of Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, was sacked an NFL record 76 times in his rookie season. Fast forward 17 years and it looked like, once again, that the Texans were neglecting to protect their prized asset. 

They had failed to recoup any value for Clowney and would be heading into their season-opener against the New Orleans Saints on Monday night with a weakened roster. 

However, they weren’t done. The Texans still had a card or two to play.

Head coach and current general manager of the Texans, Bill O’Brien got in contact with the Miami Dolphins, a team whose current trajectory is clearly focused on getting as many draft picks as possible, such is the current state of the team. 

Miami electing to trade away their best players makes them actively worse at present, but the extra draft capital means they have the potential to build their future around some young stars — and hopefully, in their eyes, a franchise quarterback.

Houston had the capital, Miami had the players they wanted — and just like that, a trade was agreed. 

Houston got the elite left tackle they so desperately needed in Laremy Tunsil, a 25-year-old left tackle tasked with protecting a quarterback’s blindside, and a solid receiver in Kenny Stills. Both players can — and will — contribute immediately.

The Dolphins come out of this looking a little more prepared for the future too, acquiring a treasure chest of draft picks, including two first-round picks and a second-round pick.

In a rare case in the NFL, it looks like everyone might be a winner here.

Even if initially it seemed as if the Texans had got the short end of the stick in the Clowney deal, which they most certainly did, it looks like they at least had their eyes elsewhere in search of other deals.

There was no way they could go into the season allowing Watson to be sacked anyway near close to last seasons shocking tally.

Those few hours between trading away Clowney and trading for Tunsil were filled with proclamations that the Texans had no idea what they were doing and they were wasting the years of Watson by failing to give him sufficient protection.

Just last week we saw Andrew Luck call time on football, citing the constant cycle of “injury, pain, and rehab” wearing him down. 

A lot of those injuries were a direct fault of the Colts’ inability to protect Luck in his early years. The Texans had to do better, they owed it to Watson.

If they couldn’t keep their quarterback upright, there was no way they could realistically call themselves viable Super Bowl contenders, no matter how talented the team was. 

That’s usually the case for most NFL teams, even if the quarterback is game-changing talent. Now, with a little more stability in the offensive line and added depth at receiver, the window that had closed so briefly, was once again open and beaming with light.