Houston Texans’ Justin Reid expected to leave in free agency

Another offseason, another Houston Texans star player is expected to depart.

Justin Reid has had one heck of a 2021 season with the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, after being the best player basically on the entire team, Reid was benched for a simple disagreement with head coach David Culley just hours before their matchup with the New York Jets.

This was probably even more telegraphed after Reid was out for the season finale against the Tennessee Titans (Pro Football Reference showed no snaps played). So why would Reid want to stay when it all comes down to it?

There’s been nothing but turmoil in the Houston Texans’ organization this year, and the Jets game incident would be enough for any player to get up and go. However, Reid is still in his prime and is one of the better safeties in the NFL, and the fact that he’s hitting the market makes this “free agency watch” that much more intriguing.

Houston Texans continue to shoo away franchise players like Reid

DeAndre Hopkins. J.J. Watt. Whitney Mercilus. Even a fan favorite like Charles Omenihu, even Mark Ingram. Over the last few seasons, all of these players have been the most productive or loved by Texans fans.

Rebuilds are painful, but there could have been a better effort to keep one or two of the players listed above. As for Reid, he has plenty of options to consider. Earlier in the season, we wrote an article that detailed which teams should target Reid in free agency.

Expect those teams to make a run at Reid, and Reid should enjoy the chance to sign with a contender of his choice. The rebuild is on, and Nick Caserio has a lot of work to do. Let’s see what happens with the Houston secondary going into next season, as they allowed the 10th-most passing yards in the league.