Wasn't it because Houston was a complete ish-show? They were trading away anyone worth a damn for peanuts. BoB was running the roster into the ground, and the President of football ops (IIRC), the guy that was pretty much universally hated, overruled the results of an executive search to hire his buddy as the GM. Then they hired the most underwhelming guy in NFL history to be their HC.

The team was a dumpster fire. Now you can argue the merits of requesting a trade under these circumstances, but it's counterproductive to the convo to pretend they aren't there.