The Texans have agreed to lock up both of their specialists, as the club will re-sign kicker Nick Novak and punter Shane Lechler, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26.
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Novak, 35, has spent the past two seasons with the Texans after four years with the Chargers. In 2016, Novak managed to hit 85.4% of his field goal attempts, a tick above his career rate of 82.8%. From 50+ yards, Novak was three-of-six, while Novak also missed three extra points. Novak earned a $885K base salary last year under the terms of a minimum salary benefit contract.
Now 40 years old, Lechler is a seven-time Pro Bowler, but the Texans lost 12.7 points of field position on punts last season. In fact, Houston’s special teams unit finished dead least in DVOA in 2016, earning poor marks in every area except punt returns. Still, the Texans will bring back Lechler — who ranked 16th in net yards per punt — and Novak.