Houston Texans General Manager Brian Gaine putting his mark on roster
By Jair Lopez
Houston Texans general manager Brian Gaine is restructuring the roster to meet his philosophical ideologies.
The Houston Texans roster has changed significantly under general manager Brian Gaine. In his first season as the Texans general manager, he changed the outlook of several positions on the roster. Gaine let offensive tackles Chris Clark, Breno Giacomini, offensive guard Xavier Su’a-Filo walk in free agency and released offensive guard Jeff Allen with an injury designation.
He brought in offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson, offensive guards Zach Fulton, Senio Kelemete, and Martinas Rankin. Nick Martin, Julien Davenport, and Greg Mancz are the only players remaining from Rick Smith’s tenure as the Texans general manager.
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Gaine not only hit the reset button on the majority starting offensive line, but also rebuilt the group of quarterbacks, tight ends, and safeties moving into the 2018 season. Texans allowed quarterback Tom Savage and T.J. Yates to walk and signed Brandon Weeden and Joe Webb III as placeholders.
Weeden was brought in midseason in 2015 but was waived towards the start of the 2017 season. Gaine and O’Brien decided to bring back a familiar quarterback with good knowledge of the offense the Texans were trying to run with Deshaun Watson.
Moving into the 2019 season, Watson is the only quarterback under contract that was in the building before Gaine was hired.
Gaine also retooled the tight end position after C.J. Fiedorowicz retired and released Stephen Anderson to give playing time to his rookie draft selections Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas. Ryan Griffin was the only veteran tight end that made the transition to Gaine’s first season as general manager, but his status with the team is up in the air as the Texans could potentially be seeking an upgrade at the tight end position after another underwhelming season.
The defense also saw a roster reset in Gaine’s first year. He signed defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, undrafted free agent A.J. Moore, and drafted Justin Reid in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Marcus Gilchrist, Corey Moore, Kurtis Drummond, Treston Decoud were a few players that were let go after forming part of the Texans defense in 2017.
Gaine has continued to shape the roster to his ideology and has essentially stripped the secondary to its core parts. After releasing Kevin Johnson, Andre Hal and Johnathan Joseph are the only defensive backs remaining from Smith’s era as the Texans general manager.
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More changes will occur with free agency opening this week, Gaine will have more resources than last season to add talent to their position of needs. Last season, the Texans had no first or second round draft picks due to trades they executed in the past to draft Watson and create financial flexibility down the road. The Texans identity will change from what it was in the past and continue to evolve to meet Gaine’s different point of view in managing the franchise moving forward.