The Houston Texans haven’t made many significant additions this offseason, but their most recent signing could be a great low-risk, high-reward signing to help them in 2025.
Last month, the Texans reportedly signed former Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed to a one-year, $5 million deal. The 29-year-old defender is coming off an outstanding 2024 season with the Colts.
Last season, Speed had 142 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, five pass deflections, a quarterback hit, and an interception. On Tuesday, the Texans made Speed’s signing official as the Fort Worth, TX native is excited to be back playing football in the Lone Star State.
— EJ Speed (@EJ_SPEED) April 8, 2025
Speed immediately posted a picture on Twitter/X of him signing his contract with the Texans, including the handshake emoji. The veteran linebacker followed up with another tweet that said, "Tarleton Texans → colts → Texans.”
Tarleton Texans --> colts --> Texans
— EJ Speed (@EJ_SPEED) April 8, 2025
The six-foot-four, 227-pound linebacker played his high school football at North Crowley, which is located in Fort Worth, TX. After high school, Speed took his talent to Tarleton State, where he began his collegiate career as a wide receiver before switching to defensive end and ultimately linebacker.
In his last season at Tarleton State (2018), Tarleton had 106 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, five pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and an interception. Speed parlayed his success at Tarleton State into getting selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Texans have a solid linebacker unit that features Azeez Al-Shaair, Christian Harris, and Henry To’oTo’o. However, Houston is adding another playmaker to the LB group who can be a factor in stopping the run and is athletic.
Nonetheless, with Speed playing on a one-year deal in his home state, the Texans hope he can have another career-year like he did in Indy, which will take their defense to new heights in 2025.