Putting the Pieces Together on the Latest Pursuit for the Texans

A strange trade by the Texans leaves a hole at a key spot...for now

The Houston Texans don’t have a starting defensive tackle on their roster.

They have players who can start but don’t have a starting defensive tackle. Houston traded their lone starter to begin the day and finished Wednesday without a bonafide replacement at defensive tackle.

Let’s piece together what’s going on at defensive tackle.

11:37 am - The Texans trade Maliek Collins to the San Francisco 49ers. It is later reported to be for a pick in the seventh round.

• This was a curious decision. Collins seemed well thought of within the organization and was a productive player. I had speculated a player would be added to start next to him not instead of him. Looking at this move without the coinciding moves makes it appear the team gave away a starter for a small amount of cap space saved after the trade.

3:00 pm - The new league year starts and the San Francisco 49ers cut DT Arik Armstead. KPRC reports the Texans, Detroit Lions, and Cincinnati Bengals are interested among other teams.

• This was an expected move by the 49ers who were spurred by Armstead when the team asked him to take a pay cut.

5:00 pm - The Athletic reports the Texans had a trade for Arik Armstead fall through.

• The 49ers and the Texans initially were set to swap Maliek Collins for Armstead but the deal was off when the Texans signed star pass rusher Danielle Hunter. This makes sense as Armstead’s contract wasn’t cheap in his final year. I do wonder if the Texans would have still pursued Hunter if this deal were executed. I have to imagine they would have still tried to add him.

7:03 pm - DJ Reader is on a plane to visit with the Detroit Lions.

• A signing of Reader likely eliminates the Lions from the Armstead sweepstakes. This deal isn’t done but seems like a visit would be a precursor to a deal.

7:33 pm - Former Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins agrees to a deal with the Bengals worth $26 million over two years.

• The signing of Rankins to a lucrative contract likely eliminates the Bengals from the Armstead sweepstakes.

The “among other teams” list likely includes the Buffalo Bills. Armstead will have suitors as a free agent. There won’t be a shortage of teams for an experienced and still productive player like him.

When you add in Armstead didn’t take a decreased salary to stay with a contending team that was his lone NFL team to that point it seems like this won’t come cheap. While the number of teams has dwindled, a team could always wake up and decide to pay him more than the Texans and earn his services.

Armstead isn’t a “must-have” but the amount of names that would excite end with him and Reader, and I believe Reader will sign with the Lions. The Texans aren’t barren at the position, but I can’t imagine the plan was ever to start Khalil Davis and Kurt Hinish between Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. Denico Autry can play a little defensive tackle, but that’s not a regular solution.

I also don’t believe the Texans let the player-for-player trade fall through without a strong belief they could wrangle Armstead despite other teams bidding on him in free agency. The trade of Collins for a near-useless draft pick looks bad on its own and will look worse if a notable name or two isn’t added to the defensive tackle room. Houston attempted to bring Sheldon Rankins back offering $12 million per year according to Aaron Wilson. There has been effort to improve the defensive tackle options.

I doubted Nick Caserio’s plan after day one of free agency. You won’t catch me doubting he has a plan just a few days later. Not after his second day in free agency.

Calvin Ridley’s Big Deal Sets the Stage for Nico Collins

The Tennessee Titans swooped in a paid a handsome sum to free agent wideout Calvin Ridley to lure him away from the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New England Patriots. The Patriots and Jaguars had been locked in a duel for Ridley, but nearly $100 million pried him away from both of those teams and sent him to Nashville.

The Titans have a fine set of skill position players, but I don’t have any belief in Will Levis at quarterback or their offensive line. Ridley’s move to Tennessee didn’t send ripples out because of his potential play, it was his payday.

Ridley will turn 30 before the season is over but netted a deal for four years and $92 million with $50 million guaranteed. A pretty penny for a player who was inconsistent and has missed the better part of the past three seasons for a variety of reasons.

Enough about Ridley, let’s talk about his deal and how it affects the Texans. This is the floor for Nico Collins in negotiations, or at least it would be for me if I were his agent.

Collins is a better wideout than Ridley, though could use another year to prove 2023 wasn’t a fluke. The positive for Collins is a big season in 2024 and he easily blows away the Ridley deal.

If the Texans want to negotiate an extension with Collins I understand why they would come to the table. He showcased his true potential with a stellar year that was one of the ten best at his position. Collins missed the better part of two seasons though which hurts his potential for a huge commitment from the team.

For Collins, it would be tough to turn down a huge deal when an average season next year or injuries reroute the Brinks truck.

The third option is letting Collins try to prove it again in 2024 and if his performance is consistent the team places the franchise tag on him while attempting to find his replacement in the draft in 2024. That is a lot of moving parts, but the Bengals are doing something not wholly dissimilar to Tee Higgins right now.

It might not be imminent, but Calvin Ridley made Nico Collins some money on Wednesday.

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