Houston Texans Preview: Free Agency and the 2024 NFL Draft!

#TexansNFLDraft2024 #TexansFreeAgency2024 #NFLHoustonTexans Houston Texans Preview: Free Agency and the 2024 NFL Draft – FanNation.com reporter Cole Thompson gives a preview for Houston this off-season by breaking down the depth chart along with the Texans biggest needs in free agency and the NFL Draft.

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Getting ready to talk Houston Texans football ourlads football network Prime Sports Network check out of course the new Areds football YouTube channel speaking of you new YouTube channel our special guest covers the Houston Texans for us here Cole Thompson has his own new YouTube channel called Cole Thompson how’s it going Cole dude

I’m uh I’m doing well you know it’s the Channel’s growing every day we’re we’re a little over 1400 subscribers hopefully we can get up to 2,000 by the end of the month doesn’t seem likely but never say never you know we always want to talk about it but talk college football over

There every single day videos come out daily live shows three times a week so lot of fun over there if you want to go ahead and hit the Subscribe button especially now during the dreaded off season one thing that I always do in my audience is if you have a question email

Me SL to my DMs at Mr Co thomps on Twitter I turn it into a video for you so it just shows how much I care awesome I care about the listeners people like I do I I I’m somebody that actually I want you coming back and that like that’s

Different from everyone else you’re like oh I wanna I want to talk about Alabama if you want to talk about Iowa football tell me I’ll do a video on it I don’t know how it’s gonna be but I’ll do it hey you’re uh you’re sound like a politician man you gotta sometimes gotta

Play the game all right Cole so uh I’m not sure what everybody expected when the season began you were pretty optimistic though as far as uh what Houston was going to uh encounter this season uh nobody of course knew exactly how CJ strout was going to react as a

Rookie uh it was an amazing season for him no doubt uh especially to get a playoff win that’s a great check off the mark that uh that makes the season almost complete didn’t go too well last week but then again uh not that many teams are going to be successful in

Baltimore this season so um yeah I guess fans must have been uh an are still ecstatic about what happened in 2023 for their team you know what’s interesting man is that you think about where this team was just three years ago you had a you had a franchise quarterback and Deshawn Watson

You were saying goodbye to JJ Watt he wanted to explore other avenues and try and win one more tit win a title before he ended his career you lost DeAndre Hopkins to the trade to Arizona and now you look at where they are the turnaround I think is well overexp

Expected but what so interesting is hearing people when they go look at the grand scheme of things there’ll be some people out there that are very excited about the future of this team they’ll be saying oh look at what we were able to accomplish look at how far we came and

Then you have those son of every once in a while that will say oh well we should have won against Baltimore why was our offense so and I’m like guys let me make this abundantly clear whatever your preseason expectations were anything past that is an added bonus

That is rule number one in any sport out there like I’ve gotten in arguments with people about Colorado football with Dion Sanders and how many people were like oh look at Colorado they fell apart Dion’s not the like their win total was three and a half they got four they did

Exactly what they thought was going to happen and Houston’s win total was seven going into the year they got to 10 they got 10 and seven on the regular season 11 and eight if you include the playoff they won a playoff game you found out that you have a franchise quarterback

Now in the building you have a Difference Maker on the defensive side of the football and Will Anderson who broke Mario Williams and JJ Watts sack record for a rookie you have an emerging Young quarterback in Derrik Stingley Jr who is living up to expectations as the

Number three pick that’s right you have you have a linebacker and Christian Harris that emulates a lot of what you saw from Dre green law and if he can continue to pan out you’re getting a potentially a Fred Warner for a guy who has coached up Fred Warner you added in

A wide receiver number one in Nico Collins that is only the third player in NFL I mean in franchise history to have 1,200 receiving yards on a regular season you have a good number two option in tank Dell who got injured and a lot of people forget about that over 750

Receiving yards seven touchdowns you’re not that flawed like honestly optimism should be at an all-time high right now in Houston especially with what you know is coming back with how much money you have in the Sal this off season yeah there’s and by the way like there is

Still going to be more names added onto the free agency pool because of who you’re going to release which means more dead cap is going to come but also more salary cap money is going to go back into the funds which opens up even more so we’re talking about a team with over

76 million in Sal c space which will probably expand to I would say anywhere between 82 and 85 when all is said and done after roster Cuts they’re going to be a team that’s in a really good spot going into the off season yeah and uh it

Just shows this what we love about the NFL uh I know the players may or may not like it I know most of them uh a lot of them don’t but uh you know you take a look at how some of these other leagues are handstrong with free agency hockey

Is definitely one of them um but this is what happens if if you have smart people running your organization right uh you can go from three wins to 13 in a season and uh that’s pretty much where Houston is going we talked in in our our preview

Of the Season how much I loved the aggressive nature of moving up and and and making the deal to get Anderson and and their franchise quarterback in the same draft and there were a lot of people that were against that um so let’s talk about let’s talk about what

They do have to do to take that next step you mentioned free agency and I looked at this free agency board I’ll pop it up here quickly and you can go to overthecap.com this is what I use um and look at all the names there lots of

Names for the Houston Texans as far as free agency is concerned and you mentioned now uh close to what 80 million in cap space now is that after they make the moves that you’re talking about and and who are you that would be that would be after they release players

That are expected to not be back next year who are those players it’s com it’s it’s questionable right now I I don’t want to say without being for sure but you know names that you would probably monitor would be Jimmy Ward he’s got a two-year contract that you know he was

Off injured for most of the year ended the season on the IR uh Robert Woods was on a two-year 17.5 million deal kind of was the wide receiver for for most of the Season maybe you want go ahead and cut ties with him uh there’ll be a few

Others that are mentioned here and there uh you can look at like guys such as Kendrick green the player that they added in from the Pittsburgh Steelers right before the start of the Season being one uh and then a few others out there as well but you also have a ton of

Free agents that are hitting the market like Houston as good as a roster as they were this past year they have the third most free agents hitting the open market this offseason and so when you look at the roster that they have currently in place not including the 75 man roster

Just the actual 53 man roster they have 42 players returning that is the third fewest in the NFL this year so as good as they were last year they are losing some names and a lot of those names also aren’t ready to take one-year contracts after what they did this past year they

Want multi-year deals to know that they’re securing a program for the next two or three seasons all right well let’s talk about some of those players that you think may or may not get resigned because again there’s a lot of cash space so there’s room to sign some

Of these guys uh some teams like the Bal I mean that’s their philosophy they want to resign their own they want to develop their own they want to reward their own um and other teams are like okay well you know we’ll wait and see everybody’s different every individual player is

Different to where they handle it so let’s find out how this uh we’ll find out big time this year more than maybe ever with this regime how they’re going to handle all this money and all these free agents but starting on offense uh couple of uh three big names stick out

Uh skill position wise you got single Terry running back you have Schultz a tight end you got Noah Brown at wide receiver uh Schultz probably the biggest one as far as money maybe is that how we’re looking at it and do you think all three will be back for MoneyWise Schultz I

Would say would be the biggest I think the most influential for this team is single ter right now you know you didn’t have an offensive game plan for the rushing attack with Damen Pierce and maybe that’s because he didn’t fit the offense extremely well maybe it was because of durability concerns but once

You got single ter as rb1 instead of rb2 you saw that next wave kind of come in and so I think it’s important to consider him uh he has even been open about it he has said you know this is a business first like gotta do what’s best for me but I

Love what Houston’s doing they’re on the come up they’re a team that nobody should want to mess around with next season future is bright if you can get them on a deal for like two years somewhere around five million a season maybe even a little bit less that’s

That’s what you’re looking for like you want that type of deal because it also allows you now to turn your attention toward maybe the draft for adding in yet another running back and that’s how you just buil and a lot of teams will do that like New England for years did that

Like every year they’d go ahead and add in like a running back in like the fifth round and he’d end up rushing for 500 yards and then the next year we never hear about him again and maybe that’s what cerio does Schultz is really interesting because of I thought he was

A top 12 tight end coming into the year I leave with him as a top 12 tight end top 12 tight end money is going to differ depending on who’s paying the price and how much you trust the position and what it means to your offense would Bobby slox sit situation

Right now which we have no idea what’s going to happen there is he going to get a head coaching job or is he going to come back if they switch up offensive personnels is the tight end so important to the offense to where you can surpass

It when you look at the draft there’s questions outside of Brock Bowers and and I’m not saying that there’s a lot of them like I really like J Tavon Sanders out Texas really good player will he be available for you in the second round or

Are you going to have to trade up to get him would you have to take him in the first round do you like him as a first first round Prospect what about the Senior Bowl who are the guys going down to mobile this week that are going to eventually solidify their draft status

Yes so the situation with Schultz is really intriguing for me only because of I need to know who’s going to be running the show on the offense what is going to be the asking price I would be more than content on bringing him back on a multi-year deal he was really reliable

On third down at times there were breakout games he had two 85 yard games this year he took over the offense on multiple occasions Big Time touchdown against Cleveland in the in the in the Wild Card round if you can get him for the right price absolutely bring him

Back if not maybe you bring in two or three tight ends or one tight end and then you draft tight end early on and make it a part of your game plan that could happen Noah Brown’s a very intriguing one because if he wasn’t able to stay healthy when he was healthy he

Was probably a wide receiver before and you kind of felt like Mei was Solly passing him up you felt like maybe Xavier Hutchinson was going to pass him up and with this draft class that does feature a lot of again really qualified wide receivers who will fit as wide

Receiver five wide receiver four compete alongside me and Hutchinson and maybe Robert Woods if he sticks around I don’t think he bring him back I I think that he is probably going elsewhere this off season okay so then uh even though tank Dell has proven that when he’s on the

Field he can be a number two let’s just be honest small guy and that’s that’s got to come into consideration especially if got hurt in his first year so is are they looking matter what at and it makes sense that maybe they move on from Woods I mean at his age you know

Unless he comes back for cheap and I can’t imagine he’s going to cost much anyway but uh they definitely going to need to add no matter what somebody that they think could be a two or three the question is how do you do it and and how

Do you and how do you agree of what you should do with it because there have been rumors for years about you know potentially getting Mike Evans to come back to Houston he’s from Galveston right up the road he’s going to be a free agent this off season he’s 31 and

He’s about as consistent as they come I mean you’re literally if you want to build a let me have a perfect wide receiver that I know is going to do the same thing every year Mike Evans is the club like that is like the building block of consistent wide receivers in

The NFL 10 1,000 yard season since being drafted out of Texas A&M I think because of that though Tampa Bay is not gonna let him leave I think that somehow they’re gonna come strike a deal to make him part of the Buccaneers for the long

Term but then what do else you do do you turn to a t Higgins who is going to be one of the top free agents on the market and he’s going to command a lot of money and also once you start seeing these deals get done that becomes the new

Asking price like every single offseason when we talk about quarterbacks getting paid well whoever is the quarterback now getting paid that’s the new asking price so you have to ask yourself is it better to extend him now before he breaks out and we’re going to have to break the

Bank for him or he struggles but it’s good enough to be a franchise quarterback but we don’t want to lose him so we got to pay him more money than he think he’s worth with wide receivers is once a Curtis Samuel gets a deal or once a Michael

Pitman gets a deal or an OD Beckham Jr gets a deal well that’s the asking price for a wide receiver too what is the asking price for how do you double that and so this is a really good draft class yeah if you feel good about where you

Stand in the second round with guys who are on the board if you feel good about the first round maybe a Keon Coleman from FSU Falls to you or a Brian Thomas Jr from LSU is on the if one of those guys Falls there and you feel like that

That’s the last piece of your offense that you need then absolutely go ahead and make that move because that’s five years of roster control on a rookie contract that would allow you also to extend Nico Collins before he hits free agency next off season which is a really

Big deal because the last thing you want to do is sign a free agent for $20 million or $18 million Nico goes off next year another 12200 and then we’re talking about well 12 million was my asking price before now it’s 18 million and you can’t afford 18 million so I’m

Going to go play elsewhere and that hurts your offense so wide receivers a need I don’t know how you how you address it and I think that also tank Dell if he were to stay healthy maybe makes this a moot point when it comes to

The top guys on the radar but because of he was injured and because of you do have questions outside of Nico Collins and on multiple occasions you watched as this offense was so reliant on number 12 getting open you have to bring someone

In yes but how do you do it is the main is the main question and how do you resource your funds to like what is the best plan of action for you when it comes to allocating money to certain positions now do they definitely look at somebody that will be their long-term

Answer in the slot they could I mean you could also move tank inside if you feel like sued there I mean John me is a slot receiver not a big deal not a big issue it really depends man I mean like that’s thing like like okay perfect

Example like like Hollywood Brown is a wide receiver that I know a lot of people are targeting for Houston and for like a two-year deal uh maybe you say $1 million so two years24 million or 21 million with the $3 million option if you meet incentives

And whatnot well at that point we know Hollywood is an outside receiver we know that he is a vertical threat we know what he is best at when he’s on the outside does tank work better inside does that pan out you know th those are

Things you have to look at when it comes to roster construction how you out Personnel wise but also when that comes in mind it’s going to be a big deal when it comes to the offensive coordinator and so if you’re running back the same type of offense next year with Bobby slow

Because he doesn’t get a head coaching job then maybe he feels comfortable with only tank on the outside so that makes you at the Target a wide receiver which then takes like a t Higgins out of the running but Curtis Samuel becomes a hotb name that is going to be targeted

Because if he is a slot receiver and he’s a gadget type of guy and the gadget guy worked with another Samuel in uh in San Francisco Debo so like those are things you have to look at right now it’s it’s so early in the process we can’t really determine only because of I

Want to know who is running the show offensively next year if it’s Bobby then you know what you’re getting and that kind of makes it a little easier yeah and that’s why it’s good that you’re um making sure that you’re covering all the bases because again once the the free

Agency deals are in place you got the domino effect before the draft so this video uh still holds true after free agency because you’ve already explained what would happen if some of the holes are filled and if some of them aren’t so that’s important by the way with only

What a couple of jobs left what do you think you think SL staying there’s only two right now uh I talked to some people not too long ago he really did a nice job down in Atlanta they actually liked him a lot but there was something about

Raheem Morris that stood out at the very last second the trigger uh Ben Johnson and him are the favorites to land with Washington uh Seattle is not interested based off of the conversations I’ve had they’ve looked at Mike Vel Dan Quinn Mike McDonald the defense coordinator

For the Ravens is the name to really monitor he is gaining a lot of traction right now a lot of people thought he was gonna get the job out in Carolina um what eventually happened was Dan Morgan getting hired as the GM I think kind of pigeon hold them to going toward towards

Canelos because of the relationship they have when they worked together in Seattle for seven years but if that’s the case if he doesn’t get Washington he’s not going anywhere okay and I think what may determin it is either they have to come to an agreement with Ben Johnson right after the NFC Championship

Whatever happens they they are locked in he is the guy or they’re gonna pigeon hole and move themselves over to Bobby slowick and the main reason why slowick would make sense Adam Peters was just hired as the new GM he was the director of player Personnel for years out in San

Francisco brought over by Kyle Shanahan in 2017 who else is brought over by Kyle Shanahan in 2017 Bobby SLO as a defensive assistant so these are guys who have had a long-standing relationship together and again yeah you you just kind of follow the cie Crums

And it Le you to the pattern I got a text message literally the day that Dan Morgan got hired and said Canalis and I was like I mean I I figured it was gonna be a hot name to it’s like no it will be caneles like and they it’s it’s gonna be

Him lo and behold it was canel same thing about Bobby slowick you know Ben Johnson I think if he would have gotten the job in Atlanta it would have been a done deal slowick to Washington now this makes it a little bit more interesting I mean Detroit fans are just breathing a

Sigh of relief if that happens because they get him another season and it’s crazy but uh yeah I can’t imagine one of those guys is not a is not a head coach that would be crazy if neither one of those guys becomes a head coach next

Year it’d be like what how did that happen so we’ll see I mean bills available and maybe they’re like oh we want and like Peters is gonna be fighting in in in offices with him about how to build a staff and whatnot yeah like that like that like the whole bill

Bich thing that dri me freaking nuts was everyone was like oh Bill’s GNA come in he’s going to be the coach no he’s not no he’s not he’s going to be the director of player Personnel he’s going to be he’s going to be he’s going to be

The head of scouting he’s going to be the offensive coordinator he’s going to be the defense coordinator he’s gonna do everything because if he’s bored because this is all he has this is all he has and so any scouting Department like any team that interviewed Bill bich their scouting Department was probably firing

Up the resumes going I’m fired I’m out goodbye like like I’m not needed here what else can I work so I mean if Washton makes that call Peter’s just gonna lose his brain or lose well that’s why he’s not that’s is probably not going to be hired this year it’s just I

Think some of these owners are realizing I’m I’m not going to give give I can’t give him full control I just can’t do it okay so so so what’s funny to me was everyone was talking about Bill going to Philadelphia because of the Nix serani rumors are you firing hoe are you gonna

Fire Howie with it because if how’s not giving up his job how’s not ging up so like you hear all of these shock jockies and you hear people that work in the same business I do and I’m like why are you even fun in this nonsense are your

Ratings that crappy to where you have to go ahead and just say dumbass stuff because how’s a good GM how’s considered by many the bestm in the NFL and Bill’s gonna come in and be fine with that yeah it’s like so it’s like yeah I mean if

Bobby SLO doesn’t get the job it’s a blessing in the skies if Ben Johnson doesn’t get the job I mean Lions fans everywhere are probably considering that as big as a Super Bowl win for next year that’s that is just huge absolutely so we’ll see uh by the way I’m going to pop

Up the latest depth chart at reds.com for the Houston Texans so all you got to do is again go to uh the uh Link in the description area of this video and you can follow along updated every day all year long again at reds.com so uh let’s

Go ahe oh uh Sal uh draft picks okay so are they pretty much set one per round uh so they have I’m trying to think uh they have one in the SEC I mean they have one in the first one in the second they have a third round pick they don’t

Have two anymore they only have one okay they have two in the fourth one in the six and two in the seventh there there is a round it’s either the fifth round or the fourth round two and they have n so bottom line is even though they made that big deal

Uh last year they’re still fine uh Capital wise well you have to realize that one of the picks that they traded was their own for that year to move up so it was basically just a swap of a pick they gave up their first round pick

In this year’s draft so that H told them to that draft but they also had Cleveland’s first round pick in the first round they gave up a second round pick last year and then they used one of their third round picks to trade up into the back end of the second round to

Draft you Scruggs at a Penn State okay and then they had another third round pick from another deal uh they got that that went over to Cleveland as well I mean to Arizona as well but they still had Cleveland’s third round pick okay so that’s how they have a third round pick

And a first round pick still in this draft all right let’s uh run through more of uh actually went through a c some of the skill players free agent wise offensively I have to ask you about a couple others on the offensive line uh so I I I know these aren’t long-term

Answers of course but uh deer and Fant you think they’ll be back deer’s interesting because if he played center but you drafted juice Scruggs to be a center maybe he is a guy that you think now with Kenyan green back a little bit healthier he goes back to his natural

Guard position and then you have him you also have Jarrett Patterson who you drafted out of Notre Dame and that was a guy that started multiple games at the start of the year and he also was a player that can play both guard and tackles so deer if you bring him back I

Don’t think anything is Promised meaning starting offensive line job meaning that you’ll be on the 53 man roster but if you can get him on the right pricee I’d bring him back Fant one that I would Target only because of I don’t know how much longer you can trust the status of

Titus Howard Howard’s a good player when he’s healthy Howard when he is on the field is a damn good player player but he also dealt with multiple injuries he was on the IR in two different stints he had season ending injury this past year if he stays healthy that’s your right

Tackle you paid him like a right tackle for the future you extended him before the start of the Season three-year deal so he’s locked in until 2026 but you always need to provide as much depth as possible George Fant swing tackle did a really nice job filling in I’d bring him

Back on a one-year deal I think though because if he is an offensive lineman he is going to command a little bit of little bit of extra cash and that’s going to lead to him going yeah like you said he he is he’s a really good swing tackle okay uh and and

Um all right so defensively and this is where the list is a lot longer yeah um so let’s talk about a couple of big names first so uh grenard yeah he’s gonna make a lot of money is it gonna be here he’s well and the thing is he’s

Making a lot of money because if he hit at the right time like yeah so he showed you back in 2021 when they switch defenses to a from a 34 to a 4-3 that he could work they showed that he could be very good defensive end he had nine and

A half sacks and then the year after everyone thought he was going to be this breakout guy gets an injury at the start of uh gets an injury the start of the Season misses most of the Year Cony comes up with four and a half sacks well

Then he comes out and he leads the team in tackles for losses leads team in pressures leads team in quarterback hits leads team in sacks for 12.5 and he’s now the first defensive lineman to have double digit sacks since JJ Watt in 2018 so he’s already breaking out at the

Right time because it was a contract year and he’s breaking out when a lot of other teams are going to have to make very difficult decisions with using the franchise tag just a mtab BK with the Baltimore Ravens that’s a guy that’s gonna get paid a lot of money this

Offseason for what he’s done Josh Allen with the Jacksonville Jaguars is gonna get paid a lot of money this off season for what he’s done so those are players that are ranked a little bit ahead of him that are going to command money but they could be on the franchise tag so as

They move up that moves grenard up because if if granard is say pass rusher number five and two them put on the franchise tag and they’re not going anywhere well now he’s pass rusher number three and so whatever pass rusher number one gets that’s a setting line

When it comes to the annual salary I talked to some people over the cap you know just salary structure they’re thinking anywhere between 15 to 17 Millions what he’s probably going to command on the open market look at the deal that Alex heith got last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers that’s kind of

The Baseline of what you’re piing up with a guy like um with a guy like grenard anywhere between 15 to 20 million probably if he gets about 18.5 I could see that being a really good sign he’s probably going to be a legit number two pass rusher on teams with the

Solidified guy so say he went to like Cincinnati where they have Trey Hendrickson they’re not gonna take him because they have Sam hubard but like let’s just say that you’re gonna have to pay a premier price because of the position but you expect him to be 10 and

A half 11 and a half sacks because Hendrickson’s going to get 19 that’s the way I think a lot of people view it that’s why they’re saying a lot of high Smith deals if Will Anderson continue to Blossom the way that he was and he was say a second-year player seven sacks is

A down year but for a rookie that’s only going to get better that’s when you think well we got this guy locked in he’s gonna be our number one pass rusher so gard’s interesting I do think that he is a number one pass rusher I think that

Any team that would be lucky to get him for a 4-3 defense that lets him come off the edge is really going to get some get get someone beneficial he’s done a great job of learning the secondary moves to work up field for another opportunity to

Get in the back field and his pressure rates gone up like crazy and he did it in the contract year so you know that’s going to command a lot of money on the market it it just doesn’t make any sense when from an outside perspective when

You’re going to have a lot of money no matter what it is and for your C for your cap that you’re not GNA resign this guy key to me is priority number one of everyone of everyone out there that you have available he is the top priority in

My sure you want to bring him back and you want to make sure that he is hellbent on being here for the long run and it’s not only in my opinion because of what you will lose with a guy like Renard in the locker room but it’s also

Because of let’s say you spend money elsewhere let’s say you extend Nico at the start of the off season let’s say that you add in Stephen Nelson on another one-year deal let’s say you bring back George Fant you bring back I don’t know um uh let’s let’s just throw

Uh Sheldon rankins in on that deal and rankings gets paid well now your attention has to turn to more than likely for the first round defensive end in the NFL draft because you didn’t bring in one and you lost one and you lost a good one who’s available are they

Good are they up to the standard of what grenard is going to be and do you like that you now have two young Edge rushers who are both on Five-Year contracts with the fifth year option yeah but maybe one is in pan out you got one that’s already

Proven and your window right now is to win it’s not to build for the long run it’s hey now expectations have changed because of if you went into this year and you went seven and 10 and you got and you got the same amount of production from will and you got the

Same amount of production from CJ if you let grenard walk what you’re saying is we’re still a few pieces away yes we’re with this now you’re 11 and eight now you’ve made it to the playoffs now you’ve won a playoff game and you held your own in the first half against the

Ravens so people are seeing you and they’re saying we can actually be something next year we’re really close to being an AFC Championship contest team you got to continue to bring back the same pieces so it’s interesting and it’s also who had a bad precedent maybe

Be a bad luck if you let him go yeah unless he’s asking for just too much money and another team just gives him a ridiculous contract that’s the thing is that you got to look at what was the asking price he wants what was the asking price offer because if they’re in

The same ballpark and he just wants more money yeah then they’re willing to meet him and they understand what he’s worth but he wants more than what they think he’s worth and so that changes things a little bit so I won’t ever say that a

Team is not trying to go ahead and do malpractice when it comes to to bringing back free agents you got to know the entire story what was the offer on the table um they’re going to make him an offer I guarantee it the question is

What will that offer be and will it be enough to go ahead and bring it back and then there was the breakout season from Blake Cashman yeah so he’s gonna get paid a little bit um is he coming back I I I I have a gut feeling no um and it

It’s just based off the conversations that I’ve had with some people and based off of the way that it seemed when the season came to a close if there’s an offer that could have been made it would have already been made by now that would have caught his attention to where he

Would have been brought back okay Houston for the last few years has been one of those teams that does an inseason signing for a player on a one-year extension okay Cashman actually was one of those guys last year that got the extension you know before free agency

Even started the season was they were what they were two and two and 13 and one at the time or something like that um they signed caspan to a one-year extension so he couldn’t even hit the market he had a breakout year I I mean when you look at what Cashman was you

Can make an argument he was the most underappreciated player in in the NFL you could honestly say that because of the way that he played and the way that he fit this defense to a te but they view him as maybe a third linebacker instead of a second linebacker maybe

They like the linebackers that are coming into the free agency maybe they like the linebackers that are going to be in the draft and they say we can either spend $5 million or $7 million or $8 million on a guy that’s going to be 29 years old maybe no longer having the

Same type of Ambiance and it was a one-year rental or we can go ahead and we can get a younger guy and he can build alongside Christian Harris and that money that we save can go towards a Harris extension after next season if he continues to do what he’s doing it just

Feels like Cashman is one of those players that you really liked and you’re GNA be really sad to watch him leave but you also have kind of this feeling that if he does go he did his job you have the linebacker the future and Christian Harris now ad him in a running mate

Maybe it is TOA TOA okay and he does have an injury history so that’s that’s why getting a long-term deal um n maybe not going to be he also was a special teams guy for years I mean for for for years he was only known for being on

Special teams and then he comes to Houston he has a breakout season yep do you really trust that that’s going to not be the case out elsewhere okay uh now let’s talk about that secondary because there are what uh eight free agents uh in the secondary right now

That’s a lot so what there’s stingly Petri and then maybe nine if like you said if Ward winds up getting uh uh you know cut so let’s see if we just go to the list Nelson’s a free agent MJ Stewart’s not a free agent uh but the

Other I’m blanking on who the other guy is um tavier Thomas is a free agent Desmond King is a free agent and the nickel D’Angelo uh D’Angelo Ross the the Special Teams Ace is a free agent he’s a back end um uh there you got Houston Carson yeah

DeAndre Houston Carson’s a free agent um at safety someone else is a free agent at safety who Desmond King I already said him Adrian Amos Amos is a free agent last second Resort gu who Chris Boyd and Kareem Jackson yeah uh K Kareem’s one that’s probably gonna retire I would

Imagine at this point of his career uh if he doesn’t maybe he signs a one-year deal maybe he comes back to Houston he’s that leader in the locker room you know that extra coach for Dem o Ryan on the field but he didn’t really play a significant amount of snaps when he was

In Houston after being waved by the Broncos um Boyd is a is a special teams guy maybe you like him around for special teams maybe not so most the guys that you’re losing aren’t going to be difference makers sure uh but you also at the same time have to realize that

Secondary play was at moments a weak point uh mainly safety I like Jaylen Petri a lot I think that there’s a ton to his game that still can be explored and he can end up really flourishing but there were some mishaps there was a lot of miscommunications on him and coverage

This past year and there is going to be some room for growth like he is an exceptional tackler but his coverage skills are hit and miss at times so do you feel like that you have to address free agency where maybe you move him down into the nickel because he can play

The Run extremely well and he’s a better tackler and you bring in another safety what’s the case with Jimmy Ward do you want him back because he’s got one more year on the contract but he’s injured prone and he is 32 do you want to go ahead and bring in another quarterback

And let stevenh Nelson walk because Nelson’s flirted with the idea for the last two off seasons will I be here won’t I be here kind of feel and they had to extend him at the start of trading camp on the contract so does that factor in there’s a lot of moves

That could be made at this position and uh I’ve been looking around there’s not that many quarterbacks that I’m looking at right now that draw interest to me in free agency for the asking price that they want okay so so I mean this is really where there’s going to be more

Movement than any other position on the team heading into the draft so it feels that way at least if not for these guys being brought back in some capacity like Boyd being brought back for special teams dos being brought back for special teams you know little things like that

Like Houston Carson maybe being brought back for special teams and has a good depth piece because he can start in a pinch that’s one to where you look at contract negotiations maybe it carries weight but I would say of all the positions that are going to see the most

Turnover secondary feels like very safe bet uh Thomas is he a guy that uh is Affordable and you you think they should be should bring back at nickel you know he’s a guy that has started on and off the last two years the start he’s a lot

Like hashman you know the thing about these rebuilding teams that you notice a lot is you’ll get the special Team guys who couldn’t find their way onto the active roster anywhere else but they come to a team that’s really in its downtrodden days and they start to get

The Reps and with the Reps they end up benefiting from it sure Thomas is probably one of the few candidates that has seen it the most you know he really didn’t play that much when he was in Indianapolis he didn’t play that much when he was in Cleveland and then he

Comes to Houston and he starts off as a special teamer and he’s really well liked by Frank Ross and he’s really well liked by lby Smith and so they give him a shot to start a pinch in the nickel and he does pretty well and the next

Year he comes back and there are some mishaps and there’s some issues but he does enough and then this past year he comes back and he’s injured and then he plays well and then he doesn’t play well and then he has a liability in coverage at times then he gets injured again you

Bring back Desmond King who’s also been a nickel Defender for you so what’s the message that you’re sending out right now is do you have faith that he can be a long-term option because if you do then yeah I mean by all means bring him

Back on a on a one-year contract and he also is a guy that maybe is comfortable here to where he’s okay with fighting for starting reps he’s a guy that’s okay with playing and only dying formations and still be a special teams Ace like there’s a lot of things that could

Happen with Tavi or Thomas but it all comes down to contract negotiations for a guy like him I think yeah it seems to me just again we we got another position here that I want to go over obviously uh the defensive line but it seems to me that defensive back definitely because

Stingley is the only Surefire long-term answer that means yeah you got to fill fill this uh it’s nice to have a bunch of guys that are you know decent like you said decent holdover types but eventually you got to fill them with more stingle and then defensive tackle

So Rankin and Collins and Rankin a free agent and and these are like okay serviceable interior guys but there’s nothing long term in the middle of this defense so that isn’t this going to be a big priority for them if I were to be a betting man this

Morning or afternoon or whatever the hell time it is if I were to be a betting man right now I could see them targeting a defensive tackle with the 23rd overall okay I could see where Collins who has one more year left on the deal comes back they offer something

To rankins they decide you know what we’re going to Pivot over to grenard grenard is going to be our top priority we’ll give him the money rankins leaves in free agency and then that leaves that hole at defensive tackle where you want to get somebody that can be an enforcer

For the next five years alongside Will Anderson who also has grenard locked up for at least two or three more years Collins you can go back into the draft or maybe free agency next off season I could see them doing that the other thing I could see them doing is that

They to make one big splash free agent signing they go a defensive tackle I could I could see that where Justin matab who’s playing right now in a three four defense as an edge player as a five technique you pay money to go bring him

Back to the state of Texas went to Texas A&M up the road you pay him an egregious amount he’s your now run stopper and your pass rusher up the middle for Houston I could see that being something I could see them maybe going after a guy like DJ reer on a two-year contract

Played for Houston at the start of his career coming out of Clemson goes over to um Cincinnati has a really good run there they need some help they want some veterans ship maybe they feel comfortable with the depth depth of this defensive line class so they’ll Target

Later I could see that being a thing but I could see but my my thing this morning as of right now if they see an opportunity to draft a long-term defensive lineman opposite of Will Anderson up the middle yeah to help out with the rushing ATT yes an area where

They really improved this year like like defensive line last year was Da crab and I have no problem saying it because if I can speak in I don’t like speaking in absolutes that’s just a fact they had the most yard aot against the Run they had the most yards after contact last

Year they were abysmal at getting into their formations it was terrible they got to the number six ranked run defense this year so the turnaround was phenomenal underneath Deo Ryan do you want to go get younger do you want to go bring in your guys like how you hadan

Francisco with Buckner and then you had Eric Armstead dvon kin law you spent a lot of money just like Javon Harr this past off season in San Francisco so do they do that this year where they spend a little bit to go get some money but I

Think that they’re going to Target an offens I mean a defensive lineman at the draft and it even makes sense that even if they go ahead and sign a DJ reader you could there’s no reason to not still draft a defensive tackle early in the draft if not the first round this way

You’ve got your veteran and your young guy in the same offseason so Collins is going into a free agent year so this is the last year of his contract of 202 four so do you think that he is going to be up for another deal do you want him

Back in Houston for the long run do you think that he’s going to leave in free agency like there’s always moves that happen in the draft that people don’t understand at the moment yes and a year from now they’re like oh I completely now why are we drafting a defensive

Tackle because your defensive tackle is going to command $21 million on the open market and you have 14 to spend in all of offse right that’s you like people sometimes don’t look that far ahead like we do and so that’s a thing you could easily sign a defensive lineman and make

It easy as as all hell and you could also bring in an a defensive tackle in the first round I could see it happening yeah I I’m I’m going through that with the Jets right now because everybody oh why did you go and draft Will McDonald

For and now uh you know you needed an offensive tackle it’s like well do hey how do you know Bryce Huff is GNA come back he’s going to command a lot of money I’m not sure the Jets are going to pay him and then where’s that spot going

To go to Will McDonald so just like that that’s why you got to think ahead at least one year when you’re talking about the draft uh tart uh Barnett and Amos three guys that got claimed uh late in the season any of them do a good job

That warrants them to come back Derek Barnett did um you’re probably losing Jerry Hughes because if he is 34 years old he was coming off of an injury in week 18 he didn’t play in the postseason he was that number three guy in the rotation at the end of the year cuz

Willi surpassed him okay you added in Barnett Barnett ended up having 11 tackles for losses and three and a half sacks over span of seven games he did his job he had 23 total pressures he was a really nice number three rotational guy he never got a big deal when he was

In Philadelphia but he was a first round pick he did show that there was a lot of upside to him I think that when he was in Houston he was playing his best version of football that we had seen the last two years okay maybe he fits this

Defense on a one-year $7 million contract track but at the same time when you put up numbers especially on a good team they’re going to think of you a little bit differently so maybe that UPS the deal like OBO OK wro last season played for Houston and he had six and a

Half sacks as the number three guy he got paid 15 million for two years with Cleveland or or or uh three years 18 million that so that could be a thing where they look at Barnett and they say you still got enough in the tank we’re

Going to pay you a little bit more because if we do think that you can fit on our defense and play a few more rounds reps so that’s a way to look at it but tart is one I would probably not Target right now uh he was in healthy

And active on multiple occasions even though he was a starter with Tennessee and Amos was mostly used on special teams and dime formations so do you feel like that you can bring him back on a short-term deal and a very Team friendly deal because if that’s the case by all

Means to it but if it’s a more so oneyear $6 million contract it’s like yeah I’m paying six million for a vet who probably going to be defensive back number three in my secondary at best at best he’s probably my third safety uh by the way and I know we

Already talked about single Terry and the running backs but if so if they signed single Terry is that mean that this draft maybe late like you were saying H fifth round sixth round running back and we’ll see what happens single ter be our guy at least for another year

Um and and do you think that that’s going to be the strategy going into the off season anyway is let’s see if we can bring single Terry back or do you think that they are seriously looking at um saying well he’s a nice player he is

What he is but we think we can get better long term with a running back out of this draft class I think it’s a middle ground I think you have to look at everything that’s on a disposal you know do you feel like that you want to

Upgrade him free agency because sequan I don’t think is gonna get a franchise tag again I do think that he’s gonna go be available and yeah yeah you know he when he was healthy he was fine oh he’s Dynamic yeah I’m not I’m not saying that

He’s a top five running back in the NFL but he is a guy that is going to put up numbers and get him in the right offense with the how exciting would that be huh yeah I mean and he’s probably only going to take a two-year deal because if he

Wants to get paid and he wants to make the most out of it so two years 24 million 12 million a season you know got the money feels like a steep price but when you have money you can spend it the way you want I mean is that a way you

Look like do you really feel like Pierce there’s no hope left for him it was a cool story for a season and now we’re going to move off do you feel like that there’s still something left in Pierce’s tank to where you can get him back to

Full speed and he’s a guy that we are talking about is maybe being a 4.2 yard per play kind of carry 900 900 rushing yards on a season maybe a thousand yards good you know good average running back in the NFL and if that’s your average then you don’t need another average like

Single Terry but those are all things I do think that they will draft a running back I I do I think some point in the draft they will take a running back um maybe it’s round four there’s some good names there’s some really really good names that you could Target and I think

The good thing about this draft is that there’s only one really big Bell cow back in my opinion and even then there’s questions when it comes to his game so everyone else is a rotational guy and a guy that fits a nich troll for you which maybe is what you’re looking for in

Houston so yeah it’s interesting you know I would bring back single Terry I’d bring him back on a two-year deal uh it would have to be very very much a team friend or incentive base in year two because especially with running backs I don’t want to overs Splurge but if I’m

Able to get him on a two-year contract where maybe the front half is very heavy to where I can cut him and get almost no dead cap if he has a regression type here I’d be willing to do that I I think that he’s earned that right I think that

What he brought to the locker room and also what he brought to the offense was enough to justify a contract extension and I know we we would all spend the owner’s money any day of the week but just knowing the cap knowing what you know about what they going to probably

Need to spend money on would you prefer Barkley and give him that money and then as as opposed to going with single Terry less money draft a mid- round guy I’m satisfied with that no I’d rather go with single Terry honestly I would and the main reason why is because of I feel

Like if you can find a running back on a four-year contract in the third round of the draft fourth side of the draft you’re in a better spot than you are with a guy like bar Barkley who you hope is going to number one stay healthy but

Still can make a lot of money and number two you hope that his best chees aren’t behind him like that’s really what this comes down to is he’s been in the league since 2018 he’s been a very reliable offensive player when he’s on the field

But the game passes You by all the time it’s why we talk about like like college right now I I’ve been doing videos talking about this Quin Sean junkins out of om Miss leaves to go to Ohio State and everyone’s like why is he leaving it’s because he wants more more N Money

And L ke’s looking at the situation and going I have to pay all these other players I can replace you tomorrow in in my offense I can replace you tomorrow F an Ohio State I love you you’re a good dude you’re probably the best running back in college football I’ll get better

I’ll get I’ll get the same production with or without you here so if college is thinking that way NFL teams are thinking that way sure so I think you have to look at a guy like single T say to yourself this might be better for us

In the short term and it might be better for us to find a running back that we can build around or or see what we have with Pierce then spend that money because once that money’s gone that money’s gone you’re not getting it back and that money can go towards jonan

Gard’s contract can go towards cont can go toward keeping Sheldon rankings around and those are moves that right now might end up benefiting you from what you were because everyone wants like like the part that really sometimes drives me crazy but it’s the reality of this sport is everyone’s going to talk

About these free agents and how Houston can start spending money on yeah they can for two of them because if they still have to fill the rest of the roster you know two players are going to be great for your team they’re going to be names that are coming to

Houston that probably never considered it but you’re not getting seven of the top 13 free agents because of money because of that’s not going to be able to build a roster and some of that money has to be allocated towards draft picks and some of that money has to be

Allocated towards extensions in the off seon so when you look at the salary cap yeah it’s great great to see $76 million right now a lot of that money is going towards small oneye twoyear deals through our just try to be on the active roster and be somewhat good depth pieces

You’re you’re gonna spend money I do believe it and Nick cerio last year kind of shocked a lot of people when he said this is the year we’re going to spend money and he didn’t until he had to when he brought in in like a 48 hour span

Sheldon rankins Dalton Schultz and uh dein single ter like all back to back to back but before that they really weren’t spending money that’s that’s probably what you’re looking at this year but those deals get done faster those deals the the the getting a Maris Brown getting a DJ reer getting a Christian

Wilkins th those deals will happen but it’s the only deal you’re gonna get then it’s gonna be a lot of small names that come with it and that that’s what it is for a lot of free agencies and and you would also believe that what they should

Probably do is make sure that they add maybe a veteran interior offensive lineman um because that also makes your running game a little bit better you you you open some up some of those holes and single ter be a little bit more productive as well so uh and and I got

To ask you is the Kenyan green uh I know it’s only been a couple years but what you know I mean is is that are we in bus territory yet or are we being too hard it’s tough man I mean it is because of he was terrible as rookie year we can

All that he was probably a little overdrafted which did help his case that much but at the same time he also was injured this entire year so we don’t have kind of a baseline of what he could be if we knew what he was going into

Next season yeah then we’d have kind of an understanding I don’t think anything is Promised anymore you know the last regime that was here was lby Smith when he was drafted loveby Smith at least had a say on if he was probably going to be the pick Nick cerio’s not going anywhere

But that’s a Nick pick with the lovey coach this is a new coaching staff it’s a new offensive line coach George warhop no longer is the one run running the show they got a brand new guy to come in with Deo Deo is now the head coach it’s

Not ly Smith so he’s a first round pick that could be still a staple of your offensive line and still could be a building block for your future but nothing’s promised anymore and nothing should be promised anymore especially going into year three okay I’m gonna wrap up with the Special Teams guys

Because they’re both free agents and they’re both all of them are free agents all of them you’re right so they I mean again these guys don’t make a lot of money but sometimes the kickers you know they they can get contracts that are a million or two a

Little bit more than market value and sometimes teams go I don’t care how much money we have I’m not paying you that much so do you think though everybody will be back or what are we looking at here well weeks is a Long Snapper that

Is going to be 39 this off so he just may go ahead and call it a career for all we know like it may just be time to go ahead and hang up the cleats for good he seemed very relaxed leaving the locker room so maybe he realized that

This is the end or maybe he realized I’m going to sign whatever they offer me I’ll take the league minimum just to continue to snap footballs and get Pikes off you know get Huts off so I’m I’m good Cameron Johnson’s a really interesting one because of when they

Brought him over he Not only was brought over he was a sign in trade so they extended him on a three-year contract which is why the deal is up right now okay he’s been one of the best special teamers in the NFL for the last two

Seasons his air time is really good his punt distance is pretty good so you know what you’re getting with him cim Fair be’s the one that I would resign I know that he had a couple misses on the year but he has been as consistent as all

Hell during his time in Houston and kickers are tough to come by you know there’s a reason why you’ll look at some teams go through seven kickers in a season other teams and they got a guy for the entire year and if you have a guy like haime farbe who you know will

Miss a 55 y but then make a 52 on the next play yeah make a 57 and then miss a 40 eight he’s inconsistent but he’s consistently inconsistent is the best way to put it you know he’s going to average anywhere between an 89 to 91 success rate and he’s probably not going

To miss that many pats if any at all I’d resign him three years give him 10 million call a day yeah he’s his uh for someone who who makes a lot of 50-yard kicks and has been relatively uh he’s weird man like it’s it’s so weird to

Talk about him because of he’ll make a 57 and then miss a 43 yeah well can’t hit them all so no but like but like you expect him to miss the yeah and like oh 43 is nothing no left it’s about being spoiled really like you

Said you can come from a team that that’s like you said hasn’t had a consistent field go kicker for years and they’ll be like man I’m taking that every day of the week give me that guy but when you got the guy it’s like well

You know he could be a little bit more consistent now shouldn’t he so it it is it’s hard to find a kicker that is really solid he’s a solid kicker and they’re hard to find and and solid on a team that is contending for a playoff spot and trying to win playoff

Games maybe not super bowl material yet solid’s fine by the way do you trust him in a big spot that’s the biggest thing now that this is a postseason team for now I do uh which why I can understand if you only want to sign him

To a two-year contract or bring him back on a one-year deal uh because you want to see what he can do uh you know where are you going to be playing that’s a factor too you know they were playing Outdoors against Baltimore and he missed the kick so that’s big deal but maybe

You’re playing in a dome and there’s no win precipitation and 57 yarders are just easy Bree so it’s like it’s like a baseline one of those two could happen one of them could suck you know I I just I just personally say you bring him back because of I’d much rather have solid

Than have nothing and sometimes solid is enough yeah I think the Green Bay Packer fans are uh are hoping that uh or wishing that they had themselves a pretty reliable kicker they might still be playing right now so maybe car Carlson’s again a rookie you know he was he was

Seven years in and he missed that kick maybe he feel a little different but if he was seven years in and missed the kick he wouldn’t be on the team anymore I mean like like like and here’s the thing when it comes to the Carlson’s that I’ve realized don’t ever give up on

Them because because Rick Spielman decided oh uh Daniel Carlson’s not that good I’m gonna draft him and then cut him as a fifth round pick and then he goes to Las Vegas and he’s been like the most consistent kicker in the NFL for the last three years it’s like like the

Carlson’s they’re kicking royalty down in the South like everyone knows who they are know who they are so it’s like if you want to give up on him after one season and you want to follow Rick Spielman and be stuck in kicker hell and then Brian gun gets shown the dwarf

You’re your funeral buddy all right so calls are wrap up uh would the two and give me a top three but I’m I’m gonna look at two big needs uh from what I’ve heard going into the off season would be defensive tackle and defensive backfield

Um if that’s correct uh who would be the third biggest need so I would actually say Edge rusher is number one even though you do have Will Anderson I think it’s always important to have two stable Edge rushers and with Barnette being a free yeah that’s true and this is this

Is if this is not knowing if they’re get toide grenard but if they resign grenard that does not become the number one then right no it doesn’t um but I would say for sure right now because you don’t have bar coming back right now you don’t have Hughes coming back right now you

Don’t have grard coming back right now it’s a need like and it’s a pretty substantial one because of those three combined are responsible for 41% of your sacks on the season so like it’s it’s a big deal to have those two um I would say defensive line would be number three

For me on that list because of I do think that the draft you could land a player free agency there’s some names you also do have still Malik Collins on the roster and he was consistent last Year you still have Kurt heish signed to

A deal and he rotated in a lot so that’s number three number two for me is actually wide receiver because of I want as much consistency as possible maybe just pass catcher whether it be wide receiver or tight end you can combine him in there because you don’t want Nico

Collins being the only guy open in yes and you need that consistency I think tank Dell is gonna be fine whether he’s a wide receiver two wide receiver three Target three cuz tight end’s number two whatever it is it’s fine but you always want to have as

Many weapons as possible that will make your offense that much more Dynamic so I put that at two but I think that it’s two only because of I’m adding in tight end to that R okay if it was just wide receiver I’d probably put it at four or

Five but with pass catcher in general tight end running back out of the back field third down slot receiver vertical receiver any one of those needs like that is two for me you just got to find yourself a consistent secondary option to passing attack Cole excellent work as always always appreciate you updating

Our viewers uh with what’s going on with the Houston Texans after a big 2023 you’ve got your YouTube channel that is fresh so good luck there and uh maybe we’ll of course uh look to uh hook up again at some point between now and draft time either just before or just

After because there’ll be a lot of activity between now and then so um best of luck uh moving forward it’s going to be an exciting offseason as always absolutely man thanks for having me