Houston Texans: 4 free agent running backs 25 or older to be interested in
4. Jay Ajayi (25 years old)
The Houston Texans could make a splash on their offense if they decide to really make a change at running back and sign free agent Jay Ajayi, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles. Being that it will be his fifth season in the NFL, Ajayi is still a young running back at 25 years old.
According to spotrac.com, Ajayi’s first NFL contract was for four years and $2.5 million with a $220,813 signing bonus, so it is safe to say he’ll sign for more than that in his next contract, but he could a short contract too as he’s battled injuries the past two seasons.
Remember, the Texans are good with the one-year deals, so if something like that were to occur for Ajayi, then Houston could be the place for that to go down, though who knows how likely that would be.
Ajayi last season played in just four games (45 carries, 184 yards, three touchdowns) and before that in 2017 he played in seven games (70 carries, 408 yards, one touchdown).
Even with those shortened seasons, what jumps off his stat sheet is the 2016 season where in his second NFL season, Ajayi really showed what he’s capable of when he played in 15 games, rushing for 1,272 yards on 260 carries for a 4.9 yards per carry average with eight touchdowns, but also four fumbles.
Even with this being 2019, the Texans could really use a running back like Ajayi on their roster, and if he shows more than flashes of his ’16 season, it would make others currently on the Texans’ roster show a little more than they have in recent seasons, too.