Houston Texans: There’s plenty of hope with the signing of Eric Murray

The Houston Texans have signed safety Eric Murray to help beef up their secondary for the upcoming season. There’s plenty of hope with this signing. How?

The Houston Texans are loading up the reserves with free agency signings and bringing back some of their own as they prepare for not only the draft but the upcoming season as well.  It’s been an interesting offseason to say the least as the headliner is the team trading away DeAndre Hopkins for running back David Johnson and a second-round.

If one looks at the haul the Minnesota Vikings got for trading Stefon Diggs away — they had a first-rounder included in the package — it obviously shows that Bill O’Brien acted way to quickly off emotion and did not get the best deal for him.

I honestly think he shouldn’t have been traded anyway but that’s neither here nor there.  It has happened and Houston Texans’ fans certainly have the right to deactivate their allegiance to the team for such a stunning move made

Hopkins was supposed to be a Texan for life, be a future Hall of Famer and make us all proud of his acceptance speech that would’ve taken place some time next decade.  That won’t happen as I’m sure the damage between he and the Houston Texans is irreparable, especially if this regime has a long-term presence of power.

But I talked about this in a previous piece I wrote earlier today and you’re more than welcome to take a look.

Nonetheless, let’s get to the signing of safety Eric Murray.  This move has defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver‘s imprint all over it with the approval of O’Brien.

I would expect that Weaver now has much say in the players that the team brings in and I like the upside that this talented defensive back has.  After spending last season with the Cleveland Browns, he spent his first three with the Kansas City Chiefs.

He’s fast (can run the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds), can tackle and has the ability to disrupt.  His technique can certainly be criticized but who’s isn’t perfect?

His 5-foot-11, 199-pound frame is more than enough of size for him to be successful and could be a suitable replacement for Jahleel Addae and a solid complement for Tashaun Gipson, who’s still with the Houston Texans on the second year of a three-year deal totaling $22.5 million.

Murray has agreed to terms of a deal that’s for three years and $20.3 million.  That seems to be the modus operandi of the Houston Texans, signing free agents to no more than three years.

An exception is that of Ka’imi Fairbairn — who’s locked in for four years — but they’re getting fair

More from House of Houston

• Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
• Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
• Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
• Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
• Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame

value for his services and he’s now one of the highest-paid placekickers in the NFL now with his deal being worth $17.6 million with $9M guaranteed.

But back to Murray, he’s durable, he’s young and I think he’ll be successful in Weaver’s defense under his command.  Murray started 39 straight games in his collegiate career with the Minnesota Gophers and has missed 10 games through his four seasons in NFL, with six of those being last season when he was healing from knee surgery.

It’s tough to tell if Weaver will switch to a 4-3 layout or continue with the hybrid model that Romeo Crennel has employed throughout his tenure with the Houston Texans.

We’ll have to see about that so, Eric, welcome to the Houston Texans.

Murray accumulated 24 tackles — 15 solos — three tackles-for-loss, one quarterback hit, 1.0 sack and one pass defensed through nine games — four starts  — back in 2019.