Houston Texans Free Agency: Pursue CB Brandon Flowers?
It has been a nearly week since the Houston Texans have been involved in free agency and things have been mostly silent coming from their end.
It has been a nearly week since the Houston Texans have been involved in free agency and things have been mostly silent coming from their end.
But yes, the Houston Texans were able to sign tight end Ryan Griffin to a three-year deal worth about $9 million.
Ultimately, it must’ve came down to Griffin figuring that his best situation was here in Houston and the offers that was extended was sizable.
He had been pursued by the Detroit Lions.
Here’s a recap of the guys that we’ve lost to free agency thus far:
A.J. Bouye was the first of the casualties signing a five-year, $65 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
John Simon, a linebacker that had improved his game tremendously over time and had become a reliable piece, signed a three-year, $17 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
Safety Quintin Demps also was able to land a deal with the Chicago Bears for three-years, $13.5 million with $5 million guaranteed in the first season. Demps had a career-high six interceptions for 2016.
Even safety-special teams specialist Don Jones, who was signed by the Texans later in the 2016 season, bolted for the San Francisco 49ers and agreed to a two-year deal.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about a guy that should be considered to be brought in to help fill the void left in the secondary.
Just who am I talking about?
I’m talking about cornerback Brandon Flowers.
Flowers has been cut from the San Diego Chargers for nearly a week so far and there hasn’t been a team yet to pick him up.
I think this a perfect opportunity for this team to pounce on an opportunity to pick up a quality veteran that will make an immediate impact.
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Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus writes that although his numbers nosedived in previous seasons, he has rebounded enough to be a quality starter.
Here’s what he had to say about that:
"“Flowers showed in San Diego he was still a quality cornerback after a disastrous season in Kansas City in an ill-suited scheme in 2013 … Flowers is a player that requires a little bit of digging, but he has major talent and would help out most teams in need of cornerback help.”"
His biggest knock?
Monson also mentions that his ability to excel in man-to-man coverage is one of his biggest weaknesses.
Here’s what he added:
"“Most teams in the league play a mix of man and zone coverage, often depending on the situation, and it’s not like Flowers can’t play man coverage, it’s just clearly not his strength.”"
The Texans employ a variety of schemes out on the field but they do employ a healthy mix of zone/man-to-man coverage as well.
The fact that the Texans haven’t been knocking on his door is alarming — unless they either know they have the talent they need or could supplement their losses on the secondary via the draft.
So how much will he cost?
Flowers had signed a four-year, $36 million deal back in 2015 with average salary of $9 million per year.
He won’t make that right now but if we could sign him for a bit under that — say a two-year, $14 million deal with $7 million guaranteed, that might get him to bite.
Flowers is past the 30-year-old mark but I think he still has a lot left in the tank to help this team, despite his up-and-down health issues.
We’ll have to see how this plays out but I honestly think this football player is worth considering having on the Texans roster.
Flowers, 31, recorded 24 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception in 2016.
Go Texans.