Broncos trade WR Thomas

Demaryius Thomas’ trade from the Denver Broncos to the Houston Texans wasn’t so much a good-bye as a see-you-later.

As in Sunday, when the Texans (5-3) visit the Broncos (3-5).

“I thought about it, yeah,” general manager John Elway said Tuesday. “But, ultimately, we had to look past that and (we) thought that it wouldn’t affect our game.”

So, Elway sent his big wide receiver to the Texans for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick. The clubs also swapped seventh-rounders in next year’s draft.

Thomas, a ninth-year veteran who was first or second on most of Denver’s receiving records, has 36 catches for 402 yards this season.

Despite averaging a career-low 11.2 yards per catch, Thomas’ three TDs were tied with Emmanuel Sanders for the team lead and gave him 66 for his career, including the playoffs.

“We were not hell-bent on trading Demaryius,” Elway said, explaining he was swayed to make the move by the package of picks and the rise of rookies Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton along with that of second-year pro Tim Patrick, who caught his first career TD pass last week.

“It’s never easy when you trade a guy that’s been a household name around here for a long time and done a lot of great things, not only on the football field but also in the community, and is a good man,” Elway said.

The AFC South-leading Texans, who beat out “three or four other teams,” for Thomas’ services, according to Elway, found themselves thin at wide receiver when they lost Will Fuller for the season to a torn knee ligament last week and have had trouble keeping rookie Keke Coutee (hamstrings) on the field.

REDSKINS GET CLINTON-DIX FROM PACKERS FOR 4TH-ROUNDER

Aiming to improve a defense that’s carried them to the top of the NFC East, the Washington Redskins added safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from the Green Bay Packers for a 2019 fourthround draft pick.

Clinton-Dix, who can become a free agent after this season, joins D.J. Swearinger to give the Redskins (5-2) a pair of veteran safeties who rank at the top of the league in interceptions.

Second-year player Montae Nicholson has been starting at safety alongside Swearinger for Washington, which is on a threegame winning streak heading into Sunday’s game against the visiting Atlanta Falcons.

Clinton-Dix was drafted out of Alabama in the first round in 2014 by the Packers and has appeared in all 71 games since, starting 65.

He has 14 interceptions, including three this season for Green Bay (3-3-1), which is in third place in the NFC North and also traded away running back Ty Montgomery on Tuesday to Baltimore.

FOWLER HEADED TO RAMS

Dante Fowler is headed to an actual Super Bowl contender

The slumping Jacksonville Jaguars traded the fourth-year pro and 2015 first-round pick to the undefeated Los Angeles Rams.

The move gives the Rams an even more formidable front, which already had Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers.

The Jaguars (3-5) received a third-round draft pick in 2019 and a fifthrounder in 2020, decent compensation for a backup who would have become a free agent at the end of the season.

The rise of Yannick Ngakoue made Fowler expendable in Jacksonville. The team opted last year to not pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Fowler was the third overall selection in 2015.

Fowler has two sacks in seven games this season while playing limited snaps behind Ngakoue. Fowler was suspended for the regular-season opener because of an arrest in 2017.

Fowler and Ngakoue also were involved in a postpractice fight in training camp, which resulted in Fowler and cornerback Jalen Ramsey getting suspended from the team for a week.

He has been a model citizen since. The Rams (8-0) are more concerned with his pass-rushing skills in the second half of the season.

The Rams are tied for eighth in the NFL with 22 sacks, but 10 of those came from Donald, who has been perhaps even more disruptive in his first season since winning The AP’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Donald sacked Aaron Rodgers twice and delivered four quarterback hits during Los Angeles’ 29-27 win over Green Bay on Sunday.

EAGLES TRADE 3RD-ROUND PICK TO LIONS FOR TATE

Golden Tate is bringing his show to Philadelphia.

The Eagles acquired the 30-year-old wide receiver nicknamed “Showtime” from the Detroit Lions for a 2019 third-round draft pick. Tate has 44 catches for 517 yards and three touchdowns this season.

He joins Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor and Jordan Matthews, giving Carson Wentz another target to go along with tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.

“This is a guy we’ve had so much respect for,” Eagles personnel boss Howie Roseman said. “I think our fans, our team, just getting him here, seeing what he brings on the field, off the field, to the practice field, the competitiveness, that’s what we’re looking for. It’s just going to raise the level of everyone.”