5 free agents the Houston Texans should avoid

Brent Grimes, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2018 stats: 13 games started, 48 total tackles, 6 pass deflection

One of my favorite stories in the NFL, Brent Grimes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has had a fantastic career after spending time in NFL Europe. He’s been in four Pro Bowls and has earned a Second Team All-Pro nod since. His 2018 play didn’t quite resemble the ball-hawking of Brent Grimes past — which makes sense considering his ancient age for outside cornerbacks at 35 years old, soon to be 36 years old.

In 2018, Grimes finished the year with the 84th best Pro Football Focus rating, which stood at 61.4. In terms of box score statistics, Grimes tallied the worst statistical season of his career as he finished the year without an interception and six pass deflections — the least since 2007 when he played mostly special teams.

Although, a lot of his problems could be toward the Bucs pushing Grimes to be a shadow man (covering the opponents best receiver snap to snap) corner instead of a zone one. He told his wife on her podcast, #IHeartMikoPodcast, that he disagreed with that notion, saying;

"“I just couldn’t agree with it. It’s just disrespectful. People who follow receivers all the time, unless they’re on a rookie contract or trying to get paid, are usually making $13-15 million a year.”"

For the Texans adding Grimes to an already aging secondary doesn’t make sense, especially if he wants to be paid like a top tier cornerback.