Texans must re-sign A.J. Bouye
The Texans need to figure out how to keep A.J. Bouye.
One of the most important decisions the Houston Texans will make this offseason is whether or not they decide to retain star cornerback A.J. Bouye.
While I’m not sure if the Texans can afford to re-sign Bouye and take care of other needs that they have this offseason, he is a vital part of their defense.
When looking at the Texans’ other top corners, it’s obvious to me that they need to make sure they’re able to keep Bouye.
Kareem Jackson is not a great player. He’s good but not great. Jackson is also 28 years old and his contract is set to expire in 2019. The best move for him could be moving to safety if Houston is able to keep Bouye.
Then you look at Jonathan Joseph who’s a good player but is 32 years-old and is in the final years of his career.
Bouye is only 25 years old and you could argue he’s the Texans’ top cornerback. If they let him walk as a free agent, it could prove to be costly.
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Texans general manager Rick Smith has already made it clear they can’t have too many corners. The problem is, can they come to an agreement on a new deal with Bouye?
You also have to wonder if Bouye is willing to accept a hometown discount in order to keep Houston’s stout defense together.
If the Texans can’t sign Bouye to a new contract, they will have to option of using the franchise tag.
One thing to keep in mind though is that the Texans only used the tag once in their history and that was in 2008 with cornerback Dunta Robinson.
If the Texans were to use the franchise tag on Bouye, he would get paid the average salary of the five highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL. This means Bouye would likely get paid around $14.1 million for the 2017 season.
This of course means a good portion of Houston’s $26 million would go to one player.
There is no doubt that the Texans have a difficult decision to make, but to me they need to figure out how to keep one of their best defensive back.