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Seth and Sean divvy the Texans set to become free agents into buckets based on their importance and assess if they think they'll be back with the team next season.
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00:00Free agents for the Texans.
00:01Will they be back?
00:02Look, it's the NFL, so the list is long of guys that are free agents for the Texans.
00:07Got at least 20 names here.
00:08We're not going to deep dive on all of them.
00:10Yeah.
00:10I put them into buckets here, Seth, as I am want to do.
00:15High priority, medium priority, and then just some that I don't think are going to be back
00:19or they're, you know, fringe guys that were on the team at the end of the year.
00:22You know, like Leckie Foto is an example.
00:25I'd probably love to have him as a camp body.
00:27He did some nice things for them.
00:28But the ones that people really want to talk about, I think, are the high priority ones
00:32that I think I've got seven names that I think the Texans, doesn't mean they're going to pay
00:38through the roof for these guys.
00:39I think these are just guys, they want to be part of this team still moving forward.
00:46I'll read the names and then you react to the ones you think deserve the most attention.
00:50The high priority free agents that I have, Sheldon Rankins, Derek Barnett, EJ Speed,
00:58Tommy Townsend, Tim Settle Jr., Danico Autry, Daria Gumbawale.
01:05I will say, first and foremost, between Sheldon Rankins and Tim Settle, that's the one I'm
01:16having a hard time with.
01:17If I had to, if I had, because they're different types of players.
01:20I think that Tim Settle has ability as a pass rusher, but also is a bigger body guy.
01:27And I think might be more of a, if you had to choose between those two guys, Sheldon's
01:32a, hmm, Sheldon Rankins is a tough one.
01:36Let me drop something in there before you, Sheldon Rankins feels like a locker room fabric
01:42guy for them.
01:43Yeah.
01:43I would say, and through, for consistency through his career and everything, I would
01:47go with Sheldon Rankins on that one.
01:49I think Sheldon Rankins, because of the, the multiple different ways that he can help you
01:53and that, look, they, there's, let's see, one, two, there's, those are the, in the high
01:58priority guys, we've got two defensive tackles, both of whom were brought here on short contracts,
02:04you know, and I, I don't want to say, hey, you can go out and find those guys anywhere,
02:08but the Texans have shown a real ability to go out and get the absolute most out of guys
02:13that you assigned a defensive tackle on one and two year deals.
02:16Yes.
02:16So I'm not, I, I like both of those guys a lot, but I hesitate to put them into high
02:22priority because I think the Texans are going to be able to find similar guys to that.
02:26Sheldon Rankins from a veteran leadership standpoint and, you know, just the way Will Anderson gushes
02:31about him and everything, I would put him in the high priority bucket.
02:34Yeah, I don't think Rankins is not some faceless journeyman defensive lineman and I'm not saying
02:38that sounds bad, like, but I think there are, I think there are the whole ball of wax in
02:44the locker room on the field.
02:45I think you can probably find another Tim settle.
02:47I think there are some things Sheldon Rankins brings to the table that maybe fans don't see
02:51on an everyday basis.
02:52And I think honestly, and this is in line with how Nick has operated.
02:56And this is one thing that he's been doing.
02:59That's consistent with the way things were done in new England.
03:02And Nick, Nick has been his own man as a GM.
03:04He does some things that are completely opposite of the way they operated in new England.
03:08But when it comes to just finding veteran players, just churning them through and getting
03:14the most out of them, that's a very Belichick, new England Patriots thing.
03:18And it's worked out well for the Texans.
03:20So all of your high priority guys, look at who they are.
03:23They're guys who are affordable free agent signings.
03:26They're Sheldon Rankins, Derek Barnett, EJ Speed, Tommy Townsend, Tim Settle Jr.,
03:30Danico Autry, and Daria Gumbawale.
03:32The only guy that got real notable money there was Danico Autry.
03:35Danico got $10 million a year.
03:36And you might argue that, you know, for bang for the buck, they got a lot more out of
03:41those other guys.
03:42So that's where, on defense especially, they're in a pretty good position right now headed into
03:47free agency.
03:48They've already got the guys that they want in the starting roles and positions.
03:51And some of the guys that they might lose, they can make up for with reasonable signings
03:56or maybe they go out and get a little bit more aggressive in free agency for one or two
04:00of those spots.
04:01Well, and especially on the defensive side of the ball, I got to imagine, you know, whether
04:05it's these guys or guys in other buildings, but especially these guys because they know
04:09these guys, that playing on this defense, there's probably a value to playing on this defense.
04:15Oh, I said that.
04:16I tweeted that out a couple weeks ago.
04:17If I were a free agent defensive tackle that wasn't happy with the offers I was getting,
04:21I would book a flight to Houston and walk into the office and wait outside of D'Amico's
04:26office until he either signed me or kicked me out.
04:29You want to prove it, Deal, as a defensive tackle, come to Houston.
04:34Okay, so those are the high priority ones.
04:36I'd take all those guys back at the right price, and I think the Texans would too.
04:40And I think Tommy Townsend is sort of a low key, I think, really big priority because he's
04:45largely punted very well for them the last couple.
04:48He's a good punt.
04:48Plus he's got a potty mouth, which I like.
04:50Yeah, he does.
04:51I like that.
04:52He's got a good person.
04:53SEC violation in a playoff game.
04:55That's right.
04:56Yeah.
04:56That's right.
04:57Hey, remember, he'll go down and he'll mix it up with people sometimes.
05:00I like that attitude out of my punt.
05:02Call him a B.
05:03His hair's always wet, but it makes it look like he's got greasy hair.
05:06Yeah.
05:06Like an old school greaser from the 50s or something.
05:09Or like one of those wrestlers that come to the ring and their hair is mysteriously all
05:12wet.
05:13Brett Hart used to be like that.
05:14But, okay, there's a name on the text page that multiple people have said this guy needs
05:19to be a high priority, and I didn't name him.
05:21I have Ed Ingram as a medium priority for the Texans.
05:26Yeah.
05:26Do you agree with that?
05:27Yes, I do.
05:29I think that Ed Ingram did a really good job this year, and I know PFF scores and all
05:32that.
05:34But I don't think he's irreplaceable, and I think that there's, you know, Ed Ingram, and
05:42he's the best of that group.
05:45But there were a lot of guys on the offensive line this year that I thought, man, this is
05:49the ideal guy you want.
05:51He can start for you, but he'd also be great as a swing interior lineman or something.
05:56I'm not, I think they can go out and find another Ed Ingram.
06:00I think they probably really like him, though, and end up, you know, maybe coming to some
06:06sort of a reasonable deal maybe before free agency.
06:09But I also want them to be aggressive the way that Chicago or some of these other teams
06:15were in the offseason and get some bona fide free agent interior offensive lineman.
06:19You might be buying high on Ed Ingram if you bring him back at the low price.
06:23Yeah, like Ed Ingram was a guy that was benched by Minnesota last year.
06:26You know, and he did some good things this year.
06:30I mean, he had some, because I honestly was really impressed, but I don't want to be a
06:34prisoner of the moment and also, you know, give him more credit or, you know, put him
06:41in all pro.
06:42The way some people were talking about this offensive line this year, like they were somehow
06:45a revelation or awesome or something.
06:47No, they were better than they were last year.
06:49Yeah, I've got a few I call dime store re-signs.
06:53If they want to bring Naquan Jones and Leckie Fultz, if they want to bring back all some of
06:57these practice squad guys who contributed down the stretch, I'm cool with that at minimum
07:01deals.
07:03Okay, three more interesting names when it comes to bringing guys back.
07:07And I have these guys in the category of old heads at the right price.
07:11Where are you on Christian Kirk, Nick Chubb, and Trent Brown?
07:17Oh boy.
07:19Nick Chubb is the one that's really interesting.
07:22Trent Brown too, just because you said the right price.
07:25Yeah.
07:26I don't think either of those guys are probably going to get anything offered much above and
07:31beyond what the Texans gave them this year.
07:34Trent Brown was a minimum guy.
07:35Yeah, and Nick Chubb was damn near a minimum.
07:40And I don't think that teams are going to look at him and say, wow, boy, you had some
07:43nice runs here and there.
07:45And in very limited usage, you still did some good things.
07:48I think that those guys are potentially back as long as it's for not much more than you
07:53already paid him this year.
07:55I would like having him back.
07:56I think they serve a perfect...
07:57Trent Brown, again, he's a guy that ideally would be a swing guy.
08:01You know, a guy that you can play, that I think Titus Howard is better at right tackle
08:07ultimately.
08:08And I know that there's certain things that Trent Brown, like Howard isn't an awesome
08:13right tackle or anything, but I think that's where he's best suited.
08:16And he's a very solid and capable starter in the NFL.
08:21He'd be a starter on a lot of NFL teams.
08:23Trent Brown is ideally a swing tackle at this point.
08:26Christian Kirk's an interesting one because he ain't making $16 million again, I promise
08:30you that, from anybody, but that playoff game that he had, a lot of people watched that.
08:34That eight catches for $1.44.
08:36I could see some teams talking themselves into giving him a few million bucks.
08:41You know, not $16 million, but hey, you know, he's a veteran guy.
08:45Bring him in a couple years, you know, two years, $10 million, something like that.
08:48I mean, at this point, it's been three straight years of injury issues.
08:51True.
08:51And that was a big problem this year with his consistency even getting integrated into the
08:56offense.
08:56Yep.
08:57So, yeah, I would say at the right price, sure.
08:59Okay.
08:59I don't want to trade for a guy like Christian Kirk again and pay him the last year of his
09:05contract, but I think Nick had some really good signings this year in free agency.
09:10I thought the more disappointing ones were Christian Kirk.
09:13Well, Christian Kirk was a trade, but still an off-season move.
09:16And then Cam Robinson, obviously.
09:18Yep.
09:18All right.
09:19Are these guys gone, Seth?
09:20Because I've got them as gone.
09:22Jimmy Ward.
09:23Yes.
09:24Gone.
09:24Fully Fatukasi.
09:27Not necessarily.
09:28Okay.
09:29Dealt with some injuries this year.
09:31Had his number taken away from him.
09:34They gave his number to Naquan Jones.
09:35It's your number.
09:36They gave your number, Seth.
09:38Well, they talked to him about it before the, you know, before he did it.
09:41It's not like they said, hey, hey, Fully, we're taking this number.
09:45I'm sure they asked him.
09:46Yeah.
09:46MJ Stewart.
09:48I don't think so.
09:49I don't think he's going to get a huge contract.
09:52They like his dependability and all the other things.
09:56They like him on special teams.
09:57Yeah.
09:58Yeah.
09:58I think MJ Stewart's proud.
09:59MJ Stewart has sneakily been on this roster for how long now?
10:03It's four seasons, I think.
10:05Four seasons.
10:05Yeah.
10:05Yeah.
10:05He predates D'Amico Ryans.
10:10Braxton Berrios.
10:12Gone.
10:13Kurt Heinish.
10:14Likely gone.
10:15Hey, here's a big one.
10:18Christian Harris.
10:18Gone.
10:19Okay, that was quick.
10:20Yeah.
10:21Okay.
10:21They weren't playing him at all this year.
10:23No, no, no, but I'm saying at the right price, you know, is he?
10:27No, they got young guys that they want to, what's his name, Jamal Hill,
10:32and some of those guys, I think, that they want to see what they have in them,
10:35and they'll draft and everything.
10:37But, like, Christian Harris was, he was playing on special teams
10:39and not on defense at times this year, and he's just,
10:42he's not the same guy he used to be.
10:44Yeah.
10:44I'm not mad at him or anything.
10:45He hasn't been the same guy since he had a mysterious calf injury.
10:49Yep.
10:49A lot of people weighing in on this on the text page.
10:52Keep the depth and rotation in the defensive tackle.
10:56Togiai has stepped up.
10:57Next text, Tommy Togiai, period.
10:58Togiai's not a free agent.
10:59He's under contract.
11:00He's under contract.
11:01He was inactive week one.
11:03They signed him to a $3 million extension the week after that,
11:07and then he was inactive again in week two, if I have my timeline correct.
11:10Yeah.
11:10And then he proceeded to play 15 weeks of football where you're like,
11:15why the hell was this guy ever inactive at all this year?
11:18Well, why is he on two different teams before he got here, too?
11:21That's where credit to the Texans for seeing what they had in him
11:25and what they could get out of him,
11:27because he ended up being one of the best run defenders in the NFL.
11:29Yeah.
11:30And also does provide a lot of pressure.
11:33He's never going to be a 10-sack guy or anything,
11:35but it's almost even more valuable that he can get that pressure
11:39and push and compress the pocket and stay in the quarterback running lanes.
11:44I care more about quarterback running lanes than passing lanes these days
11:47because every quarterback can run,
11:50and his ability to kind of press the pocket but still disengage and make a tackle,
11:54and that's how he'll get a lot of his sacks is just by flushed quarterbacks.
11:58Well, it's really, really good.
12:01He is a good player.
12:02Yeah, playing the running lanes,
12:03especially with those two guys out on the edge for you
12:06because you know they can get the quarterback.
12:08Yeah.
12:08You know, there's not a ton of pressure on you as an interior guy to, like,
12:11I got to get after the passer.
12:12No, you stay in your lanes.
12:14I like that so few people realize that Tommy Togiai has actually got a contract extension
12:20because it kind of tells the whole story about Tommy Togiai.
12:23Yeah.
12:24He flashed at the end of last year or so, remember?
12:28Yes.
12:28And this year he's inactive.
12:29Nobody was really thinking about him.
12:31Sounds like a nice story.
12:32And largely his contract extension went under the radar,
12:36and nobody really noticed it because he wasn't a relevant guy at that point.
12:40And now he is.
12:40He was our guest on the postgame show for the Christmas Day game,
12:46the Christmas Day massacre against the Ravens.
12:49Like, that's how – it's like Tommy Togiai was our postgame.
12:52That's how – I don't – that's going to sound like an insult to Tommy Togiai.
12:55He was, like, three weeks into being a Texan back then.
12:57Yeah.
12:58Nobody played well that game except for Tommy Togiai.
13:00This is what you have to remember.
13:01This is – because we go through this every year, every single year,
13:04and it's hilarious, is every year people will say something like, you know,
13:10like, they've got to get defensive line help.
13:14And then somebody will say, look at Malik Collins.
13:16They let him go, and look at him balling out now.
13:18This year it could have been, look at T.R. Tartt.
13:20He's balling out, and they let him go.
13:24Look at Sheldon Rankins.
13:26I can't believe they let Sheldon Rankins go.
13:28This was two years ago.
13:29Oh, all of a sudden, Sheldon Rankins has a really rough year physically up in Cincinnati.
13:33He's back in the fold.
13:34They figure out ways to bring these guys in and then get the most out of them,
13:39and then those guys leave, and they find somebody else, and they find somebody new.
13:43So I 100% agree with what people are saying about you've got to have that defensive tackle depth.
13:48Yeah, they got that by a strategy of signing guys on discount one- and two-year contracts.
13:55So I don't worry about replacing Tim Settle or replacing Sheldon Rankins
14:00or replacing Naquan Jones or anybody like that because they just keep getting these guys,
14:06and then they get the best version of them in this defense.
14:09Dude, they probably got somebody in their scouting department that's specifically assigned to finding the next.
14:13You like to scouting through the course of the season, getting a list together of who the next Tim Settles are going to be.
14:20Right.
14:21You know?
14:21Yeah.
14:22All right.
14:23Payne and Pendergast with you.
14:24So that's a little run through the free agents for the Texans.
14:27I mean, not a ton of big names on there, and that's good news.
14:30You're bringing a lot of your big names back for next season.
14:32You're bringing a lot of your big names on there.
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