The Houston Texans have made all of the right free agent decisions

What’s staying in H-Town

So, while the Houston Texans missed out on bringing in the biggest offensive line attraction and lost two key defenders, they were able to make some moves at the start of free agency that bolsters the team’s overall depth.

The Texans issued several tenders to the vast majority of their restricted free agents to, hopefully, retain their services for at least another year. Other teams could still sign these restricted free agents to deals but they’ll have to give up picks to do so.

The biggest move the Houston Texans made was signing Angelo Blackson to a three-year, $12 million deal. Blackson was a revelation last season and came into his own. He provided consistent pressure and was all over the field.

The Texans also retained the services of receiver and return man extraordinaire, DeAndre Carter on a one year deal. Carter was a godsend on special teams and was able to play some valuable snaps down the stretch once the wide receiving corps became decimated by injury.

The team placed a high tender on Ka’imi Fairbairn worth over $3 million for next year. If any other team wants to pry the kicker away from Houston, they’ll have to give up a second round pick. Fairbairn improved in his second season, attempting and converting a league high for field goals on an over 88% completion rate.

Brennan Scarlett, whom the Houston Texans have heavily relied upon in the special teams department, was also issued a restricted free agent tag worth over $2 million. Additionally, Brandon Dunn‘s services were also retained for over $2 million. Both of these guys will never star in Houston but they’re vitally important for depth on the defensive side of the ball.

All of these moves, just like avoiding Brown and not retaining Mathieu and Jackson, were the right moves by Gaine and the Houston Texans. They needed to retain solid depth in order to remain a true contender and these guys help with that.