The Houston Texans may have already lost free agency after failing to land any major names

The Houston Texans gamble to lowball Saquon Barkley bit them badly. So badly that save for one or two less-than-desirable options at running back, the Texans have blown the free agency period. The running game was the one area of the offense, aside from the offensive line, that needed a major overhaul.

Barkley spurned their lowball offer, a deal reportedly worth just $33 million over three seasons, he would sign a deal that paid him nearly $47.5 million, assuming he hits certain incentives. Now, that alone wouldn't cause a lot of issues, but then it was reported their number two option, Devin Singletary, was leaving the Texans for the New York Giants.

Singletary was the only running back on the team last season who could move the first-down markers it seemed, and to spurn the Texans to go Barkley's old team seems extra rude. That right there would be bad enough, as Singletary was seen as the team's second option and one that we advocated they bring back to the team regardless of what happens with Barkley.

Clearly, our advice wasn't heeded, so instead of landing either Barkley or Singletary, the team landed neither. What's worse is that every other major name has seemingly signed elsewhere as well.

Josh Jacobs is off to the Green Bay Packers, while Tony Pollard is going to the Tennessee Titans. D'Andre Swift is joining the Chicago Bears and Antonio Gibson has landed in New England.

The Texans can still salvage the offseason by signing someone like Derrick Henry or Austin Ekeler, but neither man is a long-term fit and may only give the Texans one, maybe two good seasons.

Despite all the hoopla this offseason promised, that, to be fair was the media and fanbases' doing, the Texans have lost out on Barkley, Singletary, Jacobs, as well as free agents Mike Evans, Robert Hunt, and Christian Wilkins. Every major name we thought that the Texans could go after has signed elsewhere.

Was it because the front office was being overly cautious with what they offered to players? We sure hope not, because the window to win is now in Houston, while the money is there. Now's not the time to be stashing money in the mattress.

The Texans can still turn around this free agency period if they can land some other names; especially around the offensive line. But if they don't start upping their offers, they may not land anyone in the top tier, which would be a disastrous outcome for a team with so much hope and potential.