- 2 days ago
Seth and Sean take a look at the top 20 remaining NFL free agents as outlined by USA Today and assess if they think the Texans will/should bring any in.
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00:00So the Texans have done, I would say, an ample amount of shopping in free agency,
00:04bringing in a few offensive linemen.
00:08Actually, if we're counting Ed Ingram as a free agency signing,
00:11they signed four offensive linemen in this go-round.
00:16Ed Ingram never hit the market.
00:18They re-signed him ahead of time.
00:20But that's quantity and quality, I think, this time around.
00:25The big caveat being, and you brought this up a little earlier in the show, Seth,
00:29and I do feel like since signing both guys, Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller,
00:33we've been doing a little bit of whistling past the graveyard on it, but got to stay healthy.
00:37And I'll throw Trent Brown in there, too.
00:40They brought him back.
00:41He's got to stay healthy.
00:43There will be injuries along the way, but they need to, as a unit, remain relatively healthy
00:51so you're not leaning on your depth again.
00:52Because as of right now, they don't have a ton of depth.
00:54We'll see what happens after the draft.
00:56There's not a lot of offensive line help left on the free agency market,
01:01at least at the top portion of it.
01:04I'm looking at USA Today, which, as we know, that's the publication that really seems to love the Houston Texans.
01:10That's right.
01:11Yeah, they're always at the top of our power ranking of the power ranking.
01:14USA Today, yes.
01:16Tyler Dragon.
01:18That's a good name.
01:19Tyler Dragon is the writer that put this together.
01:21He's got the top 20 remaining free agents with the best fit for each one.
01:27Yeah.
01:27I will say right now that the best fit, the Texans are not the best fit, according to Tyler
01:33Dragon of USA Today, for any of these top 20 remaining free agents.
01:37But that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about this and see if we disagree with him.
01:42Yeah.
01:43The names that I, of the 20, there's eight names that I think would generate the most
01:49fun conversation for our audience.
01:51Stefan Diggs is number, well, let me just, I think people are probably curious who's at
01:55the top of the list.
01:56Top of the list is Aaron Rodgers and Tyreek Hill.
01:59And I would guess that Aaron Rodgers, it's probably either Steelers or bust for him, especially
02:04because the Vikings, the Vikings, which were always another team talked about with Aaron
02:08Rodgers, signed Kyler Murray.
02:10They also just signed Carson Wentz a few minutes ago, the Vikings did.
02:14So they've got Wentz, Kyler, and J.J. McCarthy in that room now.
02:19That, you know, this list, there's not necessarily a whole lot of guys that intrigue me.
02:27We'll get to the ESPN's list of top remaining free agents is still chock full of offensive
02:32linemen, and there are some guys there that I might not be surprised if even the Texans
02:38took a swing at some of these guys still in free agency.
02:43Well, I would be surprised.
02:44I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities, but I think, yeah, the most, the remaining depth
02:49on the offensive line is probably going to come through the draft.
02:51Yeah, I would think so.
02:53So Aaron Rodgers won, Tyreek Hill too.
02:55They've got him best fit being the Chiefs.
02:57That's what we've seen.
02:58Ever since Tyreek Hill got cut by the Dolphins, every topic about him on TV is, is he the
03:03guy that can help the Chiefs get their mojo back?
03:05Well, and he's an interesting one too, because he had, his injury situation is dicey.
03:09It's the, the, it's not altogether clear or obvious that he's definitely going to be fine
03:16and good to go in week one, or that he might ever actually even play football again.
03:21So he's a top name, a hundred percent, but I wonder how most teams are really even looking
03:25at him right now, the names that I think are fun for Texan fans just to kick around, or
03:30maybe the Texans might even themselves be entertaining.
03:33And there's a, let me preface this by saying a lot of these are wide receiver names and
03:37I, I know they've got Nico and I know they've got the two guys, the Iowa state guys they
03:42drafted last year, Hutchinson and Iowa state guy.
03:44They drafted three years ago and they tank Dell is sort of a mystery.
03:48That five is not a five that precludes me from them bringing in a veteran wide receiver
03:54and free agency at all.
03:56Yeah.
03:56Not, not big money, obviously, but I think we're at the stage of the shopping with, um,
04:01with the, with a free agency where I don't know that these guys are going to be big money
04:04guys.
04:05Stefan, these are the four names.
04:07Tell me if you would be interested in any of these four for the Texans, Seth at the right
04:10price, uh, Stefan Diggs, Juwan Jennings, who D'Amico Ryans is familiar with from his time
04:18in San Francisco, Debo Samuel, also familiar with from time in San Francisco and Keenan Allen,
04:25our close personal friend from when we went to the bounty, uh, activation at the Superbowl
04:31on radio row last year and had a nice conversation with him.
04:34Yeah, I think, look, uh, Stefan Diggs, I feel like that, that ship has sailed and that he's,
04:39you know, he's probably depending on his legal situation, probably going to end up
04:43getting, uh, more money than I think the Texans should be spending on a wide receiver right
04:47now.
04:48They've got, they've got their veterans, uh, they've got their young guys.
04:52I'm, I'm good with them for now.
04:54Juwan Jennings is very interesting.
04:56If it was at the right price tag, I just, I'm not overly eager for wide receivers right
04:59now.
05:00Yeah.
05:00Um, Debo Samuel, hell no.
05:02Uh, and what's that?
05:04He's fat.
05:05Yeah.
05:06I shouldn't say helmet.
05:08You know what?
05:08No, I can't let Brandon.
05:10I, you filter into Debo Samuel, right?
05:12I'm sometimes guilty of this.
05:13Don't do that.
05:14I'm sometimes guilty of like, cause brand, cause their names are kind of cool and funky
05:17and they come from the same place.
05:19I always forget.
05:20Wait, no, no, no, no.
05:21Debo Samuel is not the head case that Brandon.
05:23I use.
05:23So, uh, Debo Samuel, I would, uh, I'd be, I'd be intrigued.
05:27I'd be intrigued.
05:28Uh, depending on again, the price tag.
05:31Keenan Allen had a decent season last year for the Chargers.
05:34Keenan Allen is the one that I.
05:36I, the thing with Keenan Allen is kind of an unorthodox route runner.
05:40And one of the things that I think held back the offense last year was some of the timing
05:47and some of the spacing on the routes.
05:49And as it started to get more consistent and as guys like Jaden Higgins learned to be more
05:56precise in the route running, that's when CJ could start to trust those guys with Keenan Allen.
06:01It's always dicey because you don't want to discount the fact that he's a really good receiver.
06:05But I also think that as you're trying to really, as you're trying to integrate everybody into this new offense,
06:12still in year two, it's, it might be adding a level of difficulty to it for CJ.
06:18That's not the, the, the, the, you're not getting the bang for the buck.
06:21Yeah.
06:21Yeah.
06:22That makes sense.
06:22That makes sense.
06:24Um, okay.
06:24So those are the wide receiver names on the list.
06:26These are the other names on the list that I think are interesting.
06:30DJ reader.
06:31I know we brought him up before DJ readers sixth on this list right now of available free agents.
06:37Yeah.
06:38I think, um, the Texans love to rotate and I know DJ reader doesn't look like the type of
06:43defensive tackle that D'Amico is usually interested in, but they did, they've tweaked the defense
06:48to have a little bit more of, um, uh, a run stuffer element with one of the defensive tackles
06:55at any given time.
06:57And I think that D'Amico might look at a guy like DJ and think, all right, you know,
07:01know what, for certain situations and certain packages, I'd actually like having DJ reader
07:06out there, but how old is he now?
07:0831.
07:09That's perfect.
07:10They gotta have the, they've reduced the number of 30 year olds in, uh, in the D they always
07:14like to have at least four old guys in there and DJ's old now.
07:18Yeah.
07:18No, the, we, we actually at the defense in the interior defensive line, we actually card
07:22people, you know, we have to look at your ID.
07:24You look a little, I don't know.
07:26I don't know.
07:27Uh, Mario Edwards, you look a little, let's see your ID here.
07:30You gotta be at least 32, you know, some of those clubs where it's not good enough to
07:33be 21, you gotta be 24 or older.
07:36Yeah.
07:36It's the football version of that.
07:38That's exactly right.
07:39Um, so DJ reader, the other three names that I think are interesting on this again, it's
07:44the USA today, 20 remaining, the best 20 remaining free agents.
07:50Uh, to Debbie on Clowney, number 16.
07:53Yeah.
07:54Probably not a Houston Texan.
07:55I would say doesn't seem super swarmy to me, but it's fun to have around.
07:59It'd be interesting to have a meeting at least.
08:01I think that Clowney is, he's older now he's, he's matured and he's still, he's still a valuable
08:07football player.
08:08The one thing that people never appreciate about Clowney is that he's also, he's really
08:14solid against the run.
08:15And there's times where you just, if you need to set the edge, et cetera, et cetera.
08:20Yeah.
08:20And it'd be interesting for D'Amico just to have a meeting with Jadeveon.
08:23He had nine sacks last year for the Cowboys.
08:25He played well for them.
08:26The other thing about the other thing about Jadeveon that he's done his entire career is
08:30on game day, he's swarmy as hell.
08:32Yeah.
08:33He's making plays 25 yards downfield.
08:35Like he's got a really good motor on game day.
08:38I think the issue with Bill O'Brien at times was okay.
08:41What's your motor like every other day of the week and how are you conducting yourself
08:45around the building?
08:46All of that.
08:47But that's, again, he's a more mature guy now than he, than when he left Houston.
08:51Here's where the article falls apart on Jadeveon Clowney.
08:54Yeah.
08:55This is what Tyler Dragon says.
08:56Clowney compiled nine sacks in 2021 with the Browns, but he's at his best when he's not a
09:02primary edge rusher.
09:04The Browns have reigning defensive player of the year, Miles Garrett, who commands most of
09:08the attention.
09:09And Clowney, Clowney shown he can play in tandem with Garrett.
09:14I beg to differ.
09:15Yeah.
09:16Remember when Clowney, his last year in Cleveland, Clowney was complaining that they let Garrett
09:21line up over the, the biggest scrub on the other team.
09:25Because they were giving him star treatment that they were allowing Miles Garrett to seek
09:31out, you know, and go up against the weaker offensive lineman, moving him around to where
09:34he could have the most success.
09:35And Clowney felt like he had earned that right.
09:38Yep.
09:38So, uh, I don't know.
09:39But again, he's Clowney's a little bit more mature than he was even back then a few years
09:43ago.
09:44Yeah.
09:44And now he'd be stepping into a situation where clearly Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter
09:48are the main guys.
09:49Yep.
09:50Yep.
09:50So Clowney's an interesting name.
09:52He's just, he's so much fun to have around.
09:54He is.
09:54Clowney, you're talking about?
09:55Clowney's a little smile and, uh, yeah, he's always, he's, he's always saying something
09:59interesting.
09:59Yeah.
10:00He's divulging more medical information than he should.
10:02Dr. Clowney.
10:03Yes.
10:04It would, would it hurt to have another doctor on the staff?
10:07Right.
10:07Right.
10:08Have Clowney there.
10:09I bet he still lives here.
10:10I bet he still has a house here.
10:12All those guys end up keeping a house here that, that, that come here at some point or
10:15another, maybe, um, two more names.
10:18The last two on the list, 19 and 20 result Douglas cornerback.
10:22Who, I don't know if people remember he was in, he was at either camp Cully or camp
10:28Lovey.
10:28He was a, he was a camp body for the Houston Texans at one point during those really, really
10:34bad years and ended up not making the team and ends up going to green Bay.
10:38And I think he was in Buffalo last year.
10:40He's, he's carved out.
10:42He ended up getting a big contract from green Bay.
10:44Yeah.
10:44Rasul Douglas did.
10:46Um, he's out there now as a free agent.
10:48I said this all the way back in like February, Seth, like after the season was
10:52over, I know we did a segment where I gave sort of my five point plan for the off season.
10:57One of those types of segments.
10:59And I think like number four or five on my list was go shopping in the veteran bargain
11:05bin cornerback market.
11:08When free agency rolls around, don't give 15 or 20 million to a guy.
11:12You don't need to do that.
11:13You've got Derek Stingley jr.
11:15And Kamari Lasseter, but if you pick the right veteran guys, yeah, I think you can build
11:20better depth than you have with Tremont Smith and other street guys that you've got.
11:24It's always, um, you know, the attainability of some of those guys is always tougher though,
11:27because, you know, Rasul Douglas is probably going to, he's going to go on and go someplace
11:31where he's got at least an opportunity to start where he's looking at this situation now where
11:36there's no place for him.
11:38They've got their top five guys in the secondary, uh, until somebody gets injured.
11:43That's a good point because you go, okay, well you got blank and ship and Bullock is your
11:46safeties and you got Lasseter and Stingley as your corners, but Petrie is the sort of
11:51the roadblock to a guy like that getting on the field because he's not your traditional
11:56slot corner, but for your, for the defense, for the Texans, he plays this role where it's
12:00a little bit of everything and you don't, he doesn't come off the field.
12:03So his amount of opportunities is so it turns into, okay, whenever I do get a chance to play,
12:07it's going to be as they slot me into some spot that maybe I'm not even comfortable with
12:12is I'm playing safety or something all of a sudden on a moment's notice.
12:17So, so when you're talking about the type of contract he's going to get, you're, you're
12:22probably not able to compete with that.
12:23I'm glad the guy that the guy on this list that I'm intrigued by and doesn't really fit
12:27the D'Amico Ryan's type, but in a lot of ways, but totally fits them in terms of that
12:32age, wisdom and experience way that they like having that D-line room meeting room.
12:36Calais Campbell.
12:37Yes.
12:38He'd be 40 years old.
12:39He's still, he's still plugging along.
12:41He's amazing.
12:43He doesn't, he doesn't miss games.
12:44No.
12:45And he's just, he's just, you talk about having a gray beard out there and he, by the
12:51way, doesn't have any gray hair at all yet, but in terms of the metaphorical gray beard,
12:54he's still, he's still grading out on PFF, like close to what he has his entire career.
13:01And he's just an awesome guy to have around.
13:04I feel like if they signed him and the Texans go back to the Greenbrier next year and then
13:08you and I make our pilgrimage up there and we do our interviews after practice or whatever,
13:14I feel like Calais Campbell will be one of the first guys you seek out.
13:16Oh yeah.
13:17Just to see how the hell he's lasted this long playing the same position you did.
13:20And I mean, you, you play 10 years.
13:22That's a long time.
13:23Calais is 40 years old, 40 years old.
13:26Yeah.
13:26And he's out there right now.
13:27He's out there as a free agent.
13:29What, well, how did you, how did you, how did you couch him?
13:32You said that the, he might not be a great fit for, he's more of a, um, he's for one,
13:41he's, he's not necessarily an upfield menace.
13:44So stylistically he might not be a great fit.
13:46Okay.
13:46I got you.
13:47He's going to be able to like, he still gets a lot of pressures.
13:50Yeah.
13:50Um, it's just not like he used to, but he's still, he's still very effective.
13:55So that's where I guess if you looked at him in his prime, he's kind of, in a lot of
13:59ways,
13:59he's like the ideal three, four in a three, four defense.
14:02He's a really good defensive end in a three, four defense.
14:05He can go down and rush inside on passing downs and everything.
14:08Um, but there's a place for him in different situations where he can still provide pass rush.
14:13He can still be a run stuffer.
14:15So he's not the ideal guy that they might want to be planning on using heavily all the
14:20time in the rotation, but there's certain, there's certain looks at the Texans use now
14:25where a guy like him really fits and you don't, you don't expect to get more than 500 snaps
14:30in a season.
14:30So that's where the, the, I think he just, I think he fits everything else in terms of
14:36his personality and his professionalism and all of that really, really well.
14:40He's just, he'd be a good guy to have around.
14:42No, no question.
14:43No question.
14:44Um, base power text line.
14:46Um, this goes back to when you and I, you and I played that, I don't know if it was
14:51a
14:51prediction or whatever it was that Schefter had that the, if the Titans get good play from
14:55Cam Ward this year, they could make the playoffs.
14:57Uh, it's a valid question from a listener.
15:00Will the Titans like the Patriots last year have an obscenely easy schedule and it could happen
15:06and they could make the playoffs.
15:08Okay.
15:08So do they have an obscenely easy schedule?
15:10I will say this, the one thing the Patriots had going for them last year that the, that
15:15the Titans will not have going for them this year, Patriots play in a division where they
15:19got to play the jets and the dolphins twice.
15:21Um, the Titans are going to be playing the Texans, the Jags and the Colts inside the division.
15:27There's way fewer layups inside the division.
15:29Now they're, they're, uh, very, the three games that it's sort of shuffle based on record.
15:37There's three, the, the 14 of the 17 games are already determined in perpetuity.
15:42Um, but the three variable games that are based on where you finish in the standings.
15:46Yeah.
15:46The Titans would get, um, the Titans would be getting the Raiders, the bup, bup, bup, bup,
15:52the, the Raiders, the jets and who over in the NFC, the Texans are playing.
16:00I forget, but anyways, yeah, they'd be playing three last place teams on those three games.
16:04Whereas the Texans and Jags are playing probably playoff teams as it is right now.
16:08It looks like every team in the AFC South has, you know what?
16:12No, I don't know if this is an historical one or a, uh, the schedule is easier this
16:17coming season than it was last year.
16:18No question.
16:19The way, the way it finished out last year, you cross over with the NFC North, which is
16:24the, the Ravens, the Steelers, the Bengals and the Browns.
16:27There's no, depending on how you feel about the Ravens with a new head coach and Lamar coming
16:31back and whatever.
16:33But the, the other three teams, you know, the Steelers, the Bengals and the Browns, I,
16:38that, that ain't the NFC West or the AFC West, like you were dealing with last year.
16:42And then they're crossing over with the NFC East, which is Giants, Commanders, Eagles,
16:47Cowboys.
16:48This isn't based on the Vegas odds, which is the better way to do it, but just the normal
16:52way you do it based on the opponent record and everything.
16:54Right now, the Texans have the 26th hardest schedule.
16:57The Titans have the 25th hardest schedule.
16:59That checks out.
17:00Jaguars have the 22nd hardest schedule.
17:02That has everything to do with who you're crossing over with.
17:05Yeah.
17:05So the Colts are the 28th hardest schedule.
17:07So anywhere from 22nd through 28th right now.
17:10So it, it shouldn't be now that'll change obviously, as it always does.
17:14Um, and, but, but yeah, it's not going to be the same as last year.
17:17Yeah.
17:18And even with like the, you know, like that was so extreme.
17:21I mean, the Patriots were four and 13 and they went from four and 13 to 14 and three.
17:26I don't care how easy your schedule is.
17:28That is still pretty freaking amazing to improve in the NFL.
17:31Yeah.
17:32Where most of the games, the spread on most games are within a touchdown.
17:36Um, you know, you got to give the Patriots credit that at least they, you know, there's
17:39an easy schedule, but they were winning all those games.
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