It’s NFL free agency time, and for the Texans this period of the offseason has often been more about which star players are leaving than coming.
But we could see a huge change in that this week as rumored free agent moves and informal agreements can become official. For the first time in a while, this could be an offseason of huge additions for Houston with several free agents making it known that they covet the Texans as a landing spot.
There has been heavy speculation New York Giants two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley would jump at the chance to line up in the Texans backfield before he ultimately remained in the NFC East and joined the Eagles this week. Miami Dolphins’ four-time Pro Bowl cornerback and Wheatley product Xavien Howard has made it no secret his desire to come home to finish up his career.
The list of free agents targeting the Texans this offseason only keeps growing.
Before deals can even become official this week, the Texans have already made deals for Minnesota’s pass rush specialist and Katy native Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al Shaair, cornerback Jeff Okudad and defensive end Denico Autry.
That’s what happens when a team has a young and innovative coach like DeMeco Ryans, a star quarterback in C.J. Stroud, who is coming off a record-breaking rookie season and a franchise that seemingly jumped the line this past season by winning the AFC South and then advanced to the second round of the playoffs just a season removed from winning just three games.
While Texans general manager Nick Caserio and Ryans seem pleased to have the attention of free agents in this market, they both vow this will be more an evaluation period than a beauty contest.
“The free agency, it’s a process. Nothing is going to happen overnight” Caserio said prior to free agency kicking off this week. “I’d say we’ve had constructive conversations with a number of agents. Starting with our players, we’ll have an opportunity to visit with the agents of some other players that may want to be Houston Texans. Whether or not there’s a mutual interest, we’ll find that out here as we go.
“I think it’s just finding the right people with the right mindset and the right mentality that fit the program that we’re trying to build. That’s the most important thing.”
This period will certainly be a different approach than the one Caserio implored the last few years where he favored short-term free-agent deals while building the roster primarily through the NFL Draft. The Texans, of course, will still add quality young players through the upcoming draft, but with roughly $70 million in cap room to go free-agent shopping the Texans can immediately fill some glaring needs.
The most obvious free agent needs for the Texans are at the cornerback spot opposite young star Derek Stingley Jr. A dominant pass-rushing defensive end to play on the other side of second-year defensive end Will Anderson Jr. is a big need.
A running back like Barkley would have been huge for Stroud and the offense, but the current NFL trend probably doesn’t make it wise to overspend for a running back when so many are available and quality a young back can be found in the later rounds of the draft. The Texans reportedly offered Barkley a three-year, $33 million contract, but he ultimately took Eagles four-year, $37.7 million deal that cold increase nearly $10 million more.
With Devin Stingley then signing a free agent deal with the Giants, the Texans executed a trade with Cincinnati for the services of running back Joe Mixon.
The Texans also seemed interested in wide receivers Mike Evans and Jerry Jeudy, but both were off the market before the free agency period officially got started.
While evaluating potential free agents, the Texans also have to weigh resigning their own free agents versus signing free agents from other teams who likely come with baggage. The Texans have already given extensions to two important free agents, tight end Dalton Schultz and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, but now must make decisions about players like offensive lineman Charlie Heck, linebacker Denzel Perryman, and defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins.
The Texans will ultimately lose some of their free agents like Singeltary and defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard, who took a four-year $72 million deal this week to jump to the Minnesota Vikings.
Ryans seems mindful of making sure the players he knows are kept versus just spending wildly.
“When you have that firsthand look of the guys who you’ve spent day after day with, you know them” Ryans said. “You know their strengths. You know their weaknesses. You know everything about the player. You know how they are when things get hot and heavy – like how do they handle it? So, I think there is an advantage to, ‘Man, I know exactly who this guy is, I know exactly how he will respond,’ as opposed to reaching for someone on another team that you may not have much information about. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
