Free Agency Grade: Houston Texans, A.J. McCarron works well for backup QB plan

The Houston Texans have signed quarterback A.J. McCarron to a one-year deal to be their backup quarterback.

Though it is a move that isn’t going to jump off the page and steal every headline, the Houston Texans improved at the backup quarterback position on Monday night by signing A.J. McCarron to a one-year contract.

Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported the following about the McCarron signing:

"“Former Oakland Raiders quarterback A.J. McCarron has signed a one-year, $3 million contract as the new backup to Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson.”"

This is an excellent signing by the Texans, and to be honest, McCarron is an improvement over both Brandon Weeden and Joe Webb, who were listed as the backup quarterbacks last season. McCarron is a career backup who at one time teams were interested in making a starting quarterback.

McCarron has been a backup quarterback for Andy Dalton while with the Cincinnati Bengals for four seasons and this past year was the backup QB for Derek Carr while with the Oakland Raiders, as signed with the Buffalo Bills last offseason, but never played a regular season snap for them, before joining Oakland.

McCarron has played in 13 regular-season games in his five-year NFL career and even made three starts in 2015 with the Bengals, and that is not counting the playoff game start against the Pittsburgh Steelers that postseason.

In his career, McCarron is 2-1 in the regular season as a starting quarterback, totaling 928 yards. In his one season where he started games, he passed for 854 yards with the Bengals. At one point in his career, McCarron almost was traded to the Cleveland Browns, but an inaccuracy in the trade process didn’t allow that trade to occur.

Having a quarterback like McCarron who understands the role of being a backup quarterback and when asked to play has completed nearly 65 percent of his passes with six touchdowns, compared to two interceptions, seems like a better fit as the reserve QB compared to others.

Hopefully McCarron only sees the field when the Texans have games well in-hand or he’s making a Week 17 start to rest Watson for the playoffs, but if unfortunate circumstances occur, McCarron is a very nice option to have at quarterback.

This deal is a short-team fix at the backup quarterback role, and maybe this is the start of a long-term match for the Texans with McCarron being the first option in the reserve role at quarterback for the Texans.

Free Agency Grade: B