Which of the Houston Texans free agents should the team bring back for 2024

The Houston Texans had 36 pending free agents at the start of the offseason, and while the team has a lot of cap space, there was never a doubt that the club would let a bulk of these players go. Not only should the team not bring back some of the players simply due to their lackluster outings, but some may not be worth the money they're asking for.

That said, that doesn't mean the team just outright lets them all go. In fact, we'd argue more than you'd expect should be brought back. We think around 11 or so players should be brought back, money notwithstanding. Some guys may ask for too much and that's ok, they have that right but assuming both sides are on the same page, why not?

Now, Pro Football Focus (PFF) named the 11 top free agents from the Texans (via Texans Wire) and they include CB Steven Nelson, TE Dalton Schultz, DE Jonathan Greenard, DT Sheldon Rankins, DT Teair Tart, LB Blake Cashman, DE Derek Barnett, OT Johs Jones, OT George Fant, RB Devin Singeltary and WR Noah Brown.

That doesn't include the rest of the players, some of whom we think make for better options for the Texans to re-sign. Those names include; K Ka'imi Fairbairn, DT Hassan Ridgeway, S Kareem Jackson, P Cameron Johnston, LB Denzel Perryman, S Eric Murray, CB Tavierre Thomas, C Scott Quseenberry, LB Neville Hewitt, RB Dare Ogunbowale, DeAndre Houston-Carson, S Adrian Amos, CB Desmond King, TE Eric Saubert, CB Kris Boyd, LG Michael Deiter, S Grayland Arnold, WR Steven Sims, RT Charlie Heck, DT Khalil Davis, C Dieter Eiselen, and RT D.J. Scaife Jr.

LS Jon Weeks and CB Angelo Ross have already re-signed with the team. So we're going to cover the players the team should add beyond them. We're going to break them down into categories, ranging from "imperative" they return to "could make a good backup for the right price."