It defies belief the Texans would fire O'Brien after he reached the playoffs in 2015 and '16, and in light of his excellent work with rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson this season. He says he will never resign. Rapoport reported that the Cardinalswould be interested in O'Brien if Bruce Arians retired, but working out a potential trade would be difficult in reality. (The timing, if nothing else, could make it impossible.) Texans owner Bob McNair could theoretically fire Smith, but the organization has stood by him for a long time. The most likely outcome here is that O'Brien enters the final year of his contract with more uncertainty than ever surrounding him.