Texans: 4 former players who could come out of retirement and still play

2. Houston Texans: Connor Barwin, LB

Here is a player the Houston Texans let get away, so it could be time to bring him back to the field for one last go of things for the defense, and put off being an special assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Connor Barwin accomplished many great things while in the NFL, so maybe it would be in the Texans’ best interest to see if he’d take a break from not being on the field and jump back into the game situations in a smaller role than he was used to as a player as he retired in 2019, and last playing in a game during the 2018 season.

Barwin is only 33 years old, and though he does have 142 total games of hard-played football to his credit — including 112 starts — Barwin as a spot player at outside linebacker could be a big gain for his veteran experience in a limited role, though he ended his career as a defensive end.

In four seasons with the Texans, Barwin had 16 passes defensed, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, 19 sacks (he had 37.5 sacks away from the Houston Texans in six more seasons), 82 solo tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 52 QB hits and one safety.

It was a shame he didn’t spend more time with the Houston Texans, but if things were to ever come full circle, it would be fun to see how Barwin could play with the current defense of the Texans. Barwin hasn’t played the past two seasons, so he could be feeling better since that final season. If he were to play a reduced role in game situations, that could possibly work for him.

Again, all of these are some long-shot situations, but you can never know the answer unless you bring up the topic. Being a fan of his overall body of work in the NFL, seeing Barwin back doing what he did extremely well is always a plus for football fans.