Houston Texans: 15 best free agent acquisitions of all-time

The Texans brought back a former Houston Oilers player when they signed Gary Walker in 2002, which at the time was his eighth NFL season. For the 2002 year, the signing was well worth the addition for the expansion Texans.

During the 2002 season, Walker played in all 16 games, finishing with 51 tackles (36 solo) with 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The following three seasons with the Texans weren’t so great. The reason Walker is on this list is for that 2002 season and what he brought to a brand-new franchise.

That season, Walker was a first-team All-Conference player by Pro Football Weekly. He had a Pro Bowl selection as well. Also in 2002, Walker totaled four passes defended, and of his tackles, 11 went for a loss.

Walker had a solid NFL career as he played for the Oilers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Texans for a total of 11 seasons. Walker finished with 155 games played (148 games started) with a total of 46.5 sacks.

In the very first game played by the Texans, Walker recorded a sack in their 19-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 8. The next week, he had a second sack, against the then-San Diego Chargers. Even in the Pro Bowl that year, Walker had a half sack.

For the rest of his Texans career, Walker played in four games in 2003, 15 games in 2004 and 11 games in 2005. In 2004, Walker totaled a half sack, 29 tackles and three passes defended. In 2005, he had 29 tackles, one sack and four passes defended. The 2003 season was cut short with just four games played.