9:00pm: The Texans have also internally discussed BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link) hears that Houston will look at Thomas, Ben Malena, and Joe McKnight with Thomas as the frontrunner for the job.
6:25pm: Pierre Thomas is on his way to Houston to take a physical and meet with the Texans, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Houston hopes to sign him if all is well, Rapoport adds.
The Texans, of course, are looking a little bit thin at running back after it was learned that Arian Foster will require groin surgery. There’s no timetable for Foster’s return just yet, but there’s talk that his recovery will require a trip to the IR-DTR list. At present, Houston’s running back depth chart includes Alfred Blue towards the top with Chris Polk, Jonathan Grimes, and rookie Kenny Hilliard all behind him.
Despite playing in ten games in 2014, Thomas amassed only 45 carries all year with the Saints, the lowest for his career. Thomas did remain fairly involved in the passing game, however, grabbing 45 balls out of the backfield. He was pushed onto the backburner as former first-round pick Mark Ingram saw his workload and productivity increase. Ingram, who has also struggled with injuries, was given over 200 carries during his breakout year.