Houston Texans setting the stage for an active offseason
By Jair Lopez
Houston Texans will have plenty of financial capital to address some of its needs in free agency.
Houston Texans general manager Brian Gaine and the front office have made several moves in the offseason to ensure they have the flexibility to spend when free agency opens up on March 13 at 3 p.m. central time. Texans have started to retain their players by re-signing offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson to a one year deal worth up to $4.5 million.
Henderson was the expected day one starter last season at right tackle before he was injured in the first game of the regular season against the New England Patriots. Texans TV host Drew Dougherty was in the combine for the Texans press conference, Gaine was optimistic of Henderson as the starter for next season.
"“Unfortunately last year Seantrel Henderson got injured,” Gaine said. “He was going to be our starting right tackle. We re-signed Seantrel, so we’re optimistic he’ll be our starting right tackle this year.”"
Related Story. Takeaways of Texans releasing Kevin Johnson. light
The Texans also placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney with a few days before the deadline, and are expected to continue to work towards a long term deal with the former first overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Gaine was able to create more cap room with the release of wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and cornerback Kevin Johnson ahead of the start of free agency next week. It opened up an approximate of $23 million in cap space. According to TexansCap, the Texans will have $72,138,667 to make moves in free agency and sign their rookies selected from the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Texans will be focusing on retaining their own free agents such as Tyrann Mathieu or Kareem Jackson to pair alongside safety Justin Reid and continue their talks on a contract extension with Clowney.
Next. NFL Draft 2019: Mock Draft has Texans taking TE in first round. dark
After releasing Johnson, Gaine and the Texans coaching staff will have to rebuild their group of cornerbacks, and they will have a substantial amount of cap room to make the moves necessary to improve the secondary.