To close out the third week of NFL free agency, the Houston Texans made a sneaky move to bolster their defense ahead of the 2025 season.
The Texans reportedly signed former Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed to a one-year, $5 million contract. Speed, who was taken in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, spent the first six years of his career with the Indianapolis Colts.
The 29-year-old linebacker is coming off an outstanding 2024 season with the Colts and should be a good addition to Houston’s unit. However, before signing with the Texans, two NFC teams were also in the running for Speed’s services.
On Saturday night, Aaron Wilson of KPRC-2 reported that the veteran defender chose the Texans over the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
Ultimately, veteran former #Colts linebacker E.J. Speed chose #Texans one-year, $5 million deal over #Cowboys #49ers per league sources https://t.co/eYSIsXCCzV https://t.co/OQjv9YIJaE
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 30, 2025
Given that Speed is from Fort Worth, TX, it’s not surprising the former Colts defender wants to stay in the state and inside the division. At the same time, the Cowboys and 49ers could likely offer Speed a potential starting opportunity, given the state of their respective LB units.
However, the 29-year-old defender will have a chance to get revenge on the Colts at least twice this upcoming season. Last year, Speed had 142 combined tackles (career-high), seven tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and an interception.
According to PFF, the veteran linebacker wasn’t great in pass coverage last season (46.3, ranked 146th among 189 qualified linebackers) but stood tall in stopping the run (72.2, 53rd).
Last season, the Texans’ defense allowed 114 rushing yards per game (11th-fewest in the NFL), which isn’t bad. Speed’s addition should improve Houston’s run defense and hopefully turn them into a top-10 unit.
With free agency starting to slow down, we’ll see if the Texans have any more moves up their sleeve before we get to the 2025 NFL Draft late next month.