Houston Texans Rumors: Team needs to pursue CB Joe Haden
The Houston Texans are getting ready to trim the roster to the ballyhooed 53 men but as they do that, they need acquire cornerback Joe Haden, who would provide a tremendous shot to the arm.
I’m positive that the Houston Texans have caught wind of the news that two-time Pro-Bowl cornerback Joe Haden has been released by the Cleveland Browns. He certainly will be a hot commodity as teams are looking to shape their roster after the final preseason games. In the Houston Texans case, they play tomorrow against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirmed the news:
Source: The #Browns have cut Joe Haden.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2017
The Browns signed veteran Jason McCourty in the off season and they are high on second-year CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun so this certainly gives Haden the ability to pursue other opportunities.
Rapoport also mentions another favorable wrinkle in Haden’s salary situation:
Joe Haden is getting $4M guaranteed from #Browns — with offsets. If he settles in at less than $4M, new team pays him minimum, CLE pays rest
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2017
I’m positive that the Houston Texans will have to get in line for his services but with the amount of cash that they have on hand from salary cap space, it’s possible that they may go on and make the move as it would be of little hit to the bottom line.
How much cash do the Texans have? With the team doing little spending this off season and letting top free agents such as A.J. Bouye go, they have about $30 MILLION to spend. That would be more than enough to which we could likely snag Haden for a deep discount.
I honestly don’t think that Haden is declining but he fact that the Browns are moving in a different direction and they want to get younger, leaves little room for Haden. I’d sign Haden in heartbeat and move Kareem Jackson over to safety which is the normal progression for CB’s as they age.
He still be able to wreak havoc and disrupt catches as a good CB is supposed to do and we’d immediately be able to provide a shot to the arm in the secondary. So the time is now — let’s sign Haden as soon as we possibly can.
Next: Predicting 2017 53-Man Roster by Position
Haden, 28, had forced three interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 37 tackles — 11 assisted — through 13 starts in 2016.
Go Texans.