There will be a lot more turnover for the Houston Texans than what has already happened with the franchise since Nick Caserio was hired as general manager this past offseason.
The ’22 offseason is primed to be wild for the current third-worst team in the entire NFL, and with a month left in the current season, now is the time to take a close look at pending free agents and figure out who won’t be returning to the team next season.
Next are 5 players who won’t be returning to the Texans next season, and though these are just predications, it won’t be a surprise if (and when) it happens.
4. Tyrod Taylor, QB
At one time it could have been a possibility that Tyrod Taylor could return for another year with the Houston Texans, but he’s since been benched for rookie Davis Mills, so that should be the writing on the wall for the veteran quarterback.
At first when the season began there was a feeling Taylor could lead the Texans to a handful of wins, but there have been only two victories this season, and the quarterback missed six games due to injury. During that time Mills was winless as the Texans’ starter under center, and currently the team has a 2-11 record.
Of the pending free agents, Taylor has the largest contract at $5.5 million average salary, and though in QB standards that isn’t breaking the bank for an NFL team, maybe the Texans believe those funds can be used to bring in a better quarterback for next season.
From what went from a hopeful situation with Taylor now doesn’t feel like a possibility that he returns next season for the Texans as they continue to figure out what the long-term future at quarterback is for the struggling franchise.
3. David Johnson, RB
The trade for David Johnson a couple years ago will go down as one of the very worst trades in not only Houston Texans history, but in the history of the NFL. Johnson has underperformed since joining the Texans from the Arizona Cardinals, especially this season.
This season Johnson has 56 carries for 176 yards with zero rushing touchdowns, and even worse, his best rush of the season is 13 yards. Johnson is averaging 3.1 yards per rush and has just five carries that have been for a first down. The one positive for Johnson this season carrying the football is he has just one fumble.
When catching passes from either Tyrod Taylor or Davis Mills this season, in 11 games Johnson has 28 receptions for 214 yards with one touchdown, which came all the way back in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bringing back Johnson for the ’22 season would be a reminder of all that went wrong when he arrived, as that meant DeAndre Hopkins left the franchise. It will be best for Johnson and the Texans to part ways after the ’21 season is finished and both the Texans and the veteran running back can have a fresh start away from each other, because so far this season has been a huge disappointment.
2. Christian Kirksey, LB
It isn’t that the contract of Christian Kirksey is the tipping point of bringing back the linebacker for the 2022 season, it is the fact his numbers aren’t the best and is he a big part of the future of this franchise?
Next year will be the eighth season for Kirksey as he has 44 solo tackles, two QB hits and one interception in ’21, but the folks at Pro Football Focus have graded him with a grade of 46.9 as the NFL season enters Week 15.
Kirksey is a veteran player who can help those around him, but if the Texans are thinking long-term, he’s probably not in those plans. Again, this is just a prediction because none of us really know what’s going through the mind of general manager Nick Caserio, but when Kirksey originally signed a one-year deal this past offseason it just had the feeling of that … getting through this ’21 season.
Saying Kirksey won’t return isn’t saying he’s not a good player with NFL talent, but if the Texans want to get better for the future, they need to start playing younger players more and sign younger players to contracts that can help the team for the next five or more seasons as they learn the game through this rebuild.
1. Justin Reid, S
There are a couple reasons why one might think safety Justin Reid won’t return to the Houston Texans in 2022, as he’s an unrestricted free agent, and maybe the top reason is he might not want to return to the franchise.
Reid’s play hasn’t matched up to where he was as a rookie a few seasons ago, and there is a feeling he and the Texans both need fresh starts away from each other. None of this means he’s a bad guy because he seems like a great person, being nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, but in terms of purely football, a change could really help Reid.
A couple weeks ago Reid was inactive because he and the coaching staff are not seeing “eye-to-eye,” and even with his nomination as Man of the Year, it is really tough seeing Reid returning to the Texans in ’22, especially since he’s a free agent.
This season Reid has 33 solo tackles and two interceptions, both coming in the first two games of the season. Currently in 11 games played by Reid he’s allowing 16.1 yards per completion on average but hasn’t allowed a reception in the past four games, according to advanced stats from Pro Football Reference.
There will be more than a handful of teams that will show interest in the defensive back, but with Houston in their current rebuild, the prediction is Reid will be on another team in ’22 and he’ll get back to where he was at the start of his career and build on that success.