Houston Texans cutting Vernon Hargreaves shows a shift in strategy

The Houston Texans have released DB Vernon Hargreaves, allowing him to test the market of free agency. This obviously shows a shift in strategy, what’s up?

The Houston Texans are definitely out on the wilderness of what we call the offseason. There’s a ton of decisions that will have to be made on the 2020 roster which is now all decided by Bill O’Brien, who has all but usurped the title for the Houston Texans.

With the New England Patriots deciding on awarding long-time player personnel guru Nick Caserio a multi-year extension, this further solidifies that O’Brien doesn’t trust anybody else but himself and executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby, a former Pats’ alumni himself.

The decisions made about the team were sound and the majority of them turned out to work well for the Houston Texans.

We were all sore about Jadeveon Clowney being traded but Jacob Martin has really morphed into a solid contributor — he wants to be an every-down linebacker — and Barkevious Mingo came on strong toward the end of the season.

Gareon Conley also was also a notable contributor in the secondary last season, being able to make plays and his modest rookie-pay level salary will keep him on this roster as he continues to grow.

This might accelerate with Anthony Weaver now in charge of the defense but we’ll have to see what schemes he employs that suits the strengths of not only the unit we see next season but Conley’s as well.

We all know how well the acquisitions of Carlos Hyde, Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills worked by acquiring them via trade and they’re likely to be mainstays on the roster although there’s no word yet on if the Houston Texans will retain Hyde with a new deal. Hyde has expressed interest in returning; and, although the feeling is mutual it will certainly have to be at the right price.

The first big roster move of the offseason so far has been to cut cornerback Vernon Hargreaves. Although it wasn’t clear if the Houston Texans were willing to pick up his 5th-year option worth $9.6 million next season, they’ve decided not to and Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle has indicated that they’d be willing to bring him back at a cheaper price.

Hargreaves hasn’t expressed publicly many overtures — if any at all — about wanting to return so the likelihood of him coming back has gone to quite a slim margin.

Claimed off waivers back in mid-November, Hargreaves help stabilize the inconsistency of the

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secondary’s performance but it will be not enough to make an impression across the unit so that’s why the Houston Texans feel they can get something better.

With the aging Johnathan Joseph all but certain not to return to the team next season — at least as a player — it’s time the Houston Texans invest in a dynamic cornerback of the future.

The Houston Texans could use their second-round pick this draft to acquire a top-level corner — Kristian Fulton, A.J. Terrell and Darnay Holmes could be available so there should be some talent that they could snatch up.

You also have to wonder if the love is still in the air for Chris Harris Jr. — the team tried to trade for him before going with Conley — as he’s now a free agent and he’s the type of player that you can plug-in immediately to the secondary.

I can’t wait to see how things pan out!

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Hargreaves, 24, accumulated 21 tackles — 16 solos — along with two passes defensed and one tackle-for-loss with the Houston Texans this past season.

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