Houston Texans News & Rumors

Texans Add WR/KR Steven Sims

March 24th, 2023 at 9:01pm CST by Ely Allen

The Texans continue to be one of the most active teams in free agency this offseason, signing wide receiver and return specialist Steven Sims, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Sims is, at the very least, poised to take over the kick return duties in Houston for 2023.

A former undrafted free agent out of Kansas in 2019, Sims signed with Washington and made the initial 53-man roster as a rookie. His first year in the league was his strongest offensively as he caught 34 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns. The versatile weapon added nine rush attempts for 85 yards and a touchdown. He also showed off his proficiency in the return game, fielding 32 kickoffs for 819 yards and a touchdown on a 91-yard return. In 2020, his offensive and kick return production diminished a bit, but he shouldered an increased workload returning punts.

Sims was released just prior to the 2021 season and spent six days with the Bills before getting released in final roster cuts. He was eventually signed to the Steelers’ practice squad but only appeared in one game that season. Sims would find his way back to the field in 2022, appearing in 12 games for Pittsburgh and starting two. Last year, his versatility was on full display. He only had 104 receiving yards but added 70 on the ground. He also spent equal time returning both punts and kicks for the first time last season, totaling 19 punt returns and 17 kickoff returns.

Sims projects as a depth piece offensively in Houston. The Texans receiving group should be led by Robert Woods, Nico Collins, and Noah Brown, with John Metchie, Amari Rodgers, and others competing for snaps behind them. With cornerback Tremon Smith signing a new deal with the Broncos, the Texans needed a new kick returner. That’s where Sims comes into play. Houston used cornerback Desmond King to return punts last season, but if the Texans can rely on Sims for punt returns, too, it would free up King to focus more on defense.

Sims probably won’t have fans chanting “MVP,” but he fills a need on the Texans roster. With his versatile abilities, Sims is low-risk, high-reward signing. He provides Houston with a needed who has the potential to be a Swiss Army knife on offense.

Texans, LB Denzel Perryman Agree To Deal

March 23rd, 2023 at 3:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 23: Wilson tweets that Perryman’s deal is one year in length, and has a value of $3.5MM. He, along with Littleton, will provide short-term experience at the second level of the Texans’ new-look defense while aiming to boost his value ahead of next offseason.

MARCH 22: The Texans’ visit with Denzel Perryman will end up producing an agreement. Even after adding Cory Littleton, the Texans will bring in Perryman, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.

Drawing interest from the Texans and Titans, Perryman will follow Littleton to Houston. A former Chargers second-round pick, Perryman spent the past two seasons as a Raiders regular. The 30-year-old defender agreed to a one-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. He will reunite with his 2021 Raiders teammate, Littleton, in DeMeco Ryans‘ defense.

GM Nick Caserio has continued to go to the midlevel veteran well, handing out a slew of short-term contracts to experienced players during his Houston stay. At linebacker alone, Perryman will join Littleton, Christian Kirksey and Blake Cashman among the veteran options alongside 2022 third-round pick Christian Harris.

Perryman’s Texans visit lasted two days, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes, and he has been a target since free agency’s outset. More rumors connected Perryman to Houston compared to Littleton, despite the latter having signed sooner. The Texans ranked last in run defense in 2022. While teams have questioned Perryman’s coverage chops, he is one of the better run-defending linebackers. He finished with a career-high 154 tackles in 2021 and posted a career-best 14 tackles for loss last season.

Some mutual interest existed between Perryman and the Raiders, but the team brought him in via trade (from the Panthers) during Jon Gruden‘s final season in charge. Ex-Chargers DC Gus Bradley put Perryman to work in 2021, using him on 83% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps. That number dropped to 70% under DC Patrick Graham last season, but considering Perryman’s usage rate had dipped well below 50% during his final two Bolts seasons, his Raiders run certainly qualifies as a bounce-back stretch.

Pro Football Focus concurred, slotting Perryman as a top-30 linebacker in each of the past two years. PFF ranked him 19th in 2022, despite the Raiders’ defense regressing. The ex-Miami Hurricane will attempt to help a Houston defense bounce back after four consecutive seasons ranking in the bottom five in yards yielded.

WR Notes: Hopkins, Cardinals, Chiefs, Ridley, Browns, Slayton, Texans, Dolphins

March 21st, 2023 at 4:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Brandin Cooks trade domino dropped Sunday morning, leaving DeAndre Hopkins as the only clear-cut impact receiver trade chip available. The Cardinals continue to shop the 11th-year veteran, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes talks are ramping up (Twitter link). Hopkins is amenable to adjusting his contract to facilitate a deal, and Rapoport adds an adjusted contract is likely. As is, Hopkins’ through-2024 contract calls for a $19.45MM base salary this season. That will likely be untenable to interested teams.

As far as interested parties go, the Chiefs are viewed as a team angling to acquire a veteran. Whether it is Hopkins or Odell Beckham Jr., veteran NFL reporter Mike Jurecki adds (on Twitter) Kansas City is on the market for an addition. With JuJu Smith-Schuster signing with the Patriots, it is unsurprising the defending champions are interested in upgrading. Mecole Hardman remains a free agent, and while the Chiefs were expected to move on from the speedster, his price range may have dropped considering his extended stay in free agency. Patrick Mahomes‘ restructure created $9.6MM in cap space for the Chiefs, though they sit at just more than $9MM as of Tuesday.

Staying on the Hopkins front, here is the latest from the receiver scene:

The Browns are not believed to be interested in reuniting Hopkins with Deshaun Watson, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets. Cleveland has a big contract at receiver (Amari Cooper‘s) already, though the team could benefit from a veteran presence alongside its No. 1 target. The Browns did host Marquise Goodwin on a visit that has spanned from Monday to today, Anderson adds (on Twitter). Goodwin spent last season with the Seahawks, catching 27 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. The former Olympic long jumper is going into his age-33 season.
Darius Slayton is back with the Giants, re-signing on a two-year deal worth $12MM. That contract includes $4.9MM guaranteed, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan tweets. This can be treated more like a one-year deal; the Giants can save $6MM by cutting Slayton in 2024. That said, Slayton said (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) he received other offers in free agency. The Giants, despite burying him on their initial 2022 depth chart and cutting his pay, reached out early and will have the former fifth-round pick back in the fold. The team’s improvement last season helped convince Slayton to stay.
A year after he signed for the exact terms Slayton reached (with the Jets), Braxton Berrios is now in Miami. The ex-Hurricanes receiver agreed to terms with the Dolphins on what KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes is a one-year, $3.5MM pact (Twitter link). Berrios will receive $3MM guaranteed, giving him a good chance of being part of the Dolphins’ 53-man roster. The Dolphins still have Cedrick Wilson and brought back River Cracraft and Freddie Swain last week.
Noah Brown‘s one-year Texans deal is worth $2.6MM, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The longtime Cowboys wideout received $2.25MM guaranteed and can add an additional $500K through incentives.
Addressing his season-long gambling suspension recently, Calvin Ridley said he deposited $1,500 into an unspecified betting app and, after making approximately $200 worth of NBA bets, he included the Falcons in a parlay. Denying he had inside information, Ridley said (via a piece on The Players’ Tribune) he had been away from the Falcons for a month, was not talking to anyone on the team and made the bet to root for his teammates. Regarding Ridley’s midseason Falcons exit in 2021, the former first-round pick said he was dealing with depression and anxiety. Ridley said he played most of the 2020 season (a career-high 1,374-yard slate) on a broken foot, but he was not informed of the break until June 2021. He underwent surgery, which was described as a minor procedure, but said he was not close to 100% by Week 1. This and Ridley’s house being robbed on that Week 1 Sunday intensified his anxiety. The NFL reinstated Ridley, now with the Jaguars, earlier this month.

Texans To Sign LB Cory Littleton

March 21st, 2023 at 1:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

DeMeco Ryans‘ team has been active during the first week of free agency, and the Texans will add another experienced starter to the mix.

Cory Littleton met with the Texans and will sign a one-year deal, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes. The former Rams, Raiders and Panthers linebacker agreed to terms on a $2.2MM contract Tuesday, Wilson adds, indicating $500K in incentives are present in the deal. Littleton’s paragraph 5 salary will check in at $1.3MM.

Houston will be Littleton’s third destination in three years. The Raiders shed his lucrative contract from their payroll last year, designating him as a post-June 1 cut, and the Panthers gave the former Super Bowl starter a one-year contract. Littleton is now going into his age-30 season, but he will supply the Texans with considerable experience.

The Texans have added numerous midlevel veterans on short-term deals during Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure. Two of those — Christian Kirksey and Blake Cashman — remain in Houston’s linebacker mix. Littleton will bring 71 starts’ worth of experience to this group, which also includes 2022 third-round pick Christian Harris.

The Panthers reduced Littleton’s playing time last season, starting him in seven of the 15 games he played. Littleton logged just a 36% defensive snap rate — his lowest since 2017 — and finished with 47 tackles and two pass deflections. The Raiders gave Littleton a three-year, $35.2MM contract in 2020, bringing in the two-year Rams starter who entered free agency that year with a strong reputation in coverage. After Littleton played 90% of Las Vegas’ defensive snaps in 2020, Gus Bradley reduced his workload — following an August 2021 trade for Denzel Perryman, Bradley’s ex-Chargers pupil — the next year.

Prior to the Las Vegas letdown, however, Littleton combined for 259 tackles, 7.5 sacks and five interceptions from 2018-19 in Los Angeles. Coming into his 2020 free agency, Littleton had been one of the league’s most productive linebackers. The Texans will kick the tires on the ex-Rams standout and 2018 Pro Bowler.

This Littleton addition comes after the Texans met with Perryman, who had been a Raiders regular in 2021 and ’22. Perryman remains unsigned, though both the Texans and Titans expressed interest. Littleton likely carries a lower price tag by comparison, given Perryman’s momentum. But this year’s linebacker market included numerous first-stringers; most of them have found homes and most have done so on lower-level deals. Perryman, 30, will probably not end up with the kind of contract he sought.

Texans To Sign OL Michael Deiter

March 21st, 2023 at 11:41am CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 21: To little surprise, Wilson reports that Deiter has agreed to a one-year deal with the Texans (Twitter link). Offensive additions continue to be made in Houston this offseason, including both along the offensive line and amongst the team’s skill-position group.

MARCH 20: Continuing a busy Texans afternoon, former Dolphins offensive lineman Michael Deiter intends to join the AFC South team. Deiter visited the team Monday and is expected to be part of Houston’s O-line mix, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets.

Moving between starter and depth piece in Miami, Deiter spent last season as a backup. The Texans drafted Kenyon Green in last year’s first round and traded for fellow guard Shaq Mason. Houston also re-signed Scott Quessenberry recently, making the Deiter addition appear a depth signing.

A former third-round pick out of Wisconsin, Deiter has 23 starts on his resume. Sixteen of those came for an undermanned 2019 Dolphins squad. Deiter worked as an interior backup in all 18 Dolphins games last season, but Miami added ex-Chargers and Jet starter/swingman Dan Feeney last week.

The Texans have rookie-contract cogs Charlie Heck (2020 fourth round) and Austin Deculus (2022 sixth) as backup options, with 2021 UDFA Jimmy Morrissey rostered as well. Deiter would stand to provide some experience as an interior option. The team lost center starter Justin Britt in September of last year; the 2021 Houston starter left the team for personal reasons. The Texans released Britt earlier this month; he is expected to retire.

It would not surprise if another interior backup option joined the Texans, but Deiter will be in the running for a role with DeMeco Ryans‘ team.

Texans, TE Dalton Schultz Agree To Deal

March 20th, 2023 at 11:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

The top available tight end in this year’s free agent class has found his new home. Dalton Schultz is signing a one-year, $9MM deal with the Texans, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Schultz had a modest start to his career in Dallas, but in 2020 he emerged as one of quarterback Dak Prescott‘s top targets. He racked up 1,423 yards and 12 touchdowns between 2020-21, making himself one of the Cowboys’ most productive offensive players.

Negotiations for a long-term deal fell through last offseason, so Schultz played on the franchise tag in 2022. His production took a step back this past season, one in which Prescott missed considerable time early in the year. Schultz still made 57 catches for 577 yards and five touchdowns, making him the top option in this year’s free agent class. His numbers also made it likely that he would depart the Cowboys this offseason, in spite of a reported multi-year contract offer from the team.

On that point, Pelissero’s colleague Jane Slater recently noted that Dallas had not, in fact, submitted an offer to the 26-year-old (Twitter link). Now, he will make an intra-state move to the Texans, a team which has been amongst the busiest this offseason. Schultz will aim to rebound from a production standpoint working with what will all-but assuredly be a rookie quarterback in 2023.

Houston has added a number of players on offense via free agency and trades, including receivers Robert Woods and Noah Brown. Schultz will join the latter in making a Cowboys-to-Texans move in the hopes of giving the rebuilding AFC South outfit a notable boost in the passing game. Houston’s skill-position corps is bound to look considerably different next season, as they aim to take a sizeable step forward as a unit.

The Cowboys – who yesterday acquired receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the Texans further connecting the two franchises – now have a vacancy to fill at the tight end spot. While this year’s draft class boasts a number of celebrated prospects, finding a seam-stretcher with the personal connection to Prescott in line with the one Schultz possessed will likely be a tall order.

Cowboys Acquire WR Brandin Cooks From Texans

March 20th, 2023 at 8:27pm CST by Rory Parks

MARCH 20: Upon acquiring the oft-traded wideout, the Cowboys restructured his deal. They moved $8MM of Cooks’ $12MM 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. Cooks’ cap number will drop to $6MM in 2023, per Archer. It had resided at $12.4MM. Two void years are now attached to the 10th-year receiver’s deal, Archer adds (on Twitter). Cooks’ 2024 base salary is now $8MM — down from $13MM.

MARCH 19: Wide receiver Brandin Cooks has been traded once again. The Texans have agreed to send the 29-year-old to the Cowboys, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Jeremy Fowler, first reported that the two sides were working on a deal, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that Dallas is giving up a 2023 fifth-round choice (No. 161) and a 2024 sixth-rounder in the swap (Twitter links).

Cooks is under contract through 2024, and he is due a fully-guaranteed $18MM base salary in 2023. That number — along with the Texans’ ask of a second-round pick — became an obstacle in trade talks involving Cooks at last year’s trade deadline, as interested clubs wanted Houston to pay down a significant portion of Cooks’ salary. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the Texans will pay $6MM of Cooks’ $18MM salary to facilitate the deal (Twitter link).

Cooks, a first-round pick of the Saints in 2014, was traded to the Patriots in March 2017, to the Rams in April 2018, and to the Texans in April 2020. In six of his nine professional seasons, the Oregon State product has topped 1,000 receiving yards, and his career 13.7 yards-per-reception rate is indicative of his status as a vertical threat. Over his first two seasons with the Texans, Cooks averaged roughly 85 catches and 1,100 yards per year.

However, things began to go south in 2022. Clearly frustrated by the Texans’ lack of competitiveness during his tenure in Houston, Cooks publicly expressed his frustration that he was not dealt to a winning club at the deadline, and he stepped away from the Texans for a week, missing the team’s Week 9 contest against the Eagles. At the time, he also made reference to organizational changes that upset him — which may have included the dismissal of former EVP Jack Easterby — and he said, “I don’t know everything that goes through [GM Nick Caserio’s] head.”

Even though Cooks remained on the Texans through the end of the 2022 campaign, it was reported in January that Houston was expected to accommodate his standing trade request this offseason. And the Cowboys, who made a push for Cooks at the deadline in an effort to supplement a WR corps that was clearly missing Amari Cooper — who was traded himself in March 2022 — finally got their man. ESPN’s Ed Werder says multiple teams were in pursuit of Cooks and appeared close to acquiring him, but Dallas was Cooks’ preferred destination (Twitter link).

Cooks, who has 58 receptions of 25+ yards downfield since he entered the league in 2014 — second only to Tyreek Hill during that span, as Werder tweets — should serve as a quality complement to CeeDee Lamb in a potentially explosive offense in Dallas. Although it appears that the team is parting ways with tight end Dalton Schultz, the Cowboys have 2022 fourth-rounder Jake Ferguson on the roster and could further supplement the position in a TE-rich draft. Lamb, Cooks, and Michael Gallup form a quality WR trio, and franchise-tagged Tony Pollard is a terrific weapon in the backfield.

The Texans, meanwhile, gain additional draft capital to aid in their rebuilding efforts in exchange for a player who wanted out. Houston — which coincidentally signed former Cowboy Noah Brown a few days ago — presently houses Robert Woods, Nico Collins, and 2022 second-rounder John Metchie III atop its WR depth chart.

Texans To Sign RB Devin Singletary

March 20th, 2023 at 4:32pm CST by Adam La Rose

Just as one notable addition has been reported on the Texans’ offense, another has emerged. Houston has agreed to a deal with running back Devin Singletary, as first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that the one-year pact has a maximum value of $3.75MM (Twitter links).

The deal includes a base value of $2.75MM, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets. Of this figure, $2.5MM will be guaranteed. There are $375K worth of incentives in the former Bills back’s deal.

Singletary, 25, essentially spent all of his four-year Bills career as the team’s lead back, though that tile led to a lower usage rate than it would have on most other teams. Now, he will head to Houston in what will be a timeshare in the backfield along with impressive 2022 fourth-rounder Dameon Pierce, who staked his claim to the top of the depth chart with a productive rookie campaign.

This free agency period, as expected, has not treated running backs especially well. As the top back available, even Miles Sanders did not hit the $7MM-per-year threshold. None of the non-Sanders contingent has surpassed $6MM per annum, but most of the starter-level backs who hit the market have now found homes. Singletary will attempt to carve out a steady role alongside Pierce in Houston.

The Bills used a second-round pick on James Cook last year and traded for Nyheim Hines, and Brandon Beane said the team plans to add another running back. The team showed interest in Jamaal Williams, but last season’s rushing touchdowns leader landed with the Saints. Buffalo may turn back to the draft to find a Cook complementary runner. Singletary’s four-year Buffalo tenure will end with 56 starts; his Houston run looks set to involve a rotational role.

Part of this year’s supply-and-demand crunch, the likely Pierce change-of-pace option is coming off a productive Buffalo stay. Singletary held off the likes of Cook and Zack Moss to remain the primary back during the Bills’ AFC East three-peat. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and cleared 800 in total in each of the past two seasons, adding three playoff touchdowns in 2021. Josh Allen still operated as the Bills’ primary goal-line option — much to the chagrin of Singletary or Moss fantasy GMs — but the team’s 5-foot-7 back still totaled 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons. The former Florida Atlantic star is just 5-foot-7 and has yet to clear 200 receiving yards in a season, but ahead of his age-26 campaign, he should still have some tread on his tires.

Although Singletary logged a whopping 301 carries during his dominant sophomore season at the Conference USA school (1,918 rushing yards in 2017), he has never topped 190 in a season as a pro. Barring an injury to Pierce, his Texans workload will likely be light as well. Singletary will join Dare Ogunbowale and Gerrid Doaks as non-Pierce options on Houston’s roster. The team has brought in several veteran backs during GM Nick Caserio‘s tenure — Rex Burkhead, Phillip Lindsay, Mark Ingram and Marlon Mack among them — and Singletary will be the latest. But Pierce, a 2022 fourth-rounder, will almost definitely begin a second season as the team’s ball-carrying centerpiece.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Texans, LT Laremy Tunsil Agree To Extension

March 19th, 2023 at 9:22am CST by Rory Parks

The Texans have signed left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a record-setting extension. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, player and team are in agreement on a three-year deal worth $75MM, including $50MM in fully guaranteed money and $60MM in total guarantees (Twitter link).

Houston acquired Tunsil in a blockbuster deal with the Dolphins in 2019, sending two first-round picks, a second-rounder, and two players to Miami in exchange for the blindside blocker and WR Kenny Stills. In light of that massive haul and the fact that he earned Pro Bowl honors in his first year in Houston, Tunsil — who operates without an agent — had considerable leverage when it came time to talk extension with the Texans. He landed a three-year, $66MM contract in April 2020, and the $22MM annual average on that deal was a record for left tackles at the time.

That AAV has since been surpassed by Trent Williams and David Bakhtiari, but Tunsil’s new $25MM/year rate once again positions him atop the LT hierarchy. In a piece by Jeff Howe and Adam Coleman of The Athletic (subscription required), Coleman notes that Tunsil will have the chance to hit the market in three years, which suggests that the new extension simply scrapped the final year of his previous contract and will run through the 2025 season. As such, Tunsil will be eligible for free agency when he is just 31 years old, thereby giving him a great chance to cash in all over again in fairly short order.

The contract will drop Tunsil’s 2023 cap number down from $35MM to $26.6MM, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 adds. Tunsil’s 2024 cap figure drops to $25.9MM, with Wilson adding the 2025 and ’26 hits check in at $28.9MM apiece. Tunsil’s 2023 and ’24 base salaries are fully guaranteed, and his 2025 base features a partial injury guarantee ($10MM). That $10MM injury guarantee shifts to a full guarantee a year out, as Wilson adds it vests on Day 5 of the 2024 league year.

Though the payout is staggering, it is difficult to argue with the Texans’ decision to authorize it. After Tunsil missed most of the 2021 season with a thumb injury, he bounced back in a big way in 2022, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ 10th-best offensive tackle and boasting the best pass-block grade of any tackle. That grade was supported by the fact that he only allowed three quarterback hits and 17 pressures on the year, and he earned Pro Bowl acclaim for the third time in his four Houston seasons (the only year in which he did not receive that honor as a member of the Texans was his injury-shortened 2021 campaign).

Plus, the Texans are widely expected to select a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, as Albert Breer of SI.com recently confirmed. So while having an elite left tackle is a top priority for any team, it is especially critical for a rebuilding Houston outfit that could be deploying a rookie under center as soon as Week 1. The club also has Tytus Howard, another extension candidate, at right tackle, giving it an enviable OT situation. The Texans also made a recent move to bolster the interior of their O-line by trading for guard Shaq Mason.

Texans, Titans Pursuing LB Denzel Perryman

March 16th, 2023 at 12:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 16: Perryman is meeting with the Texans on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The former Chargers, Panthers (sort of) and Raiders linebacker is looking to find a home for a ninth NFL season.

MARCH 15: This year’s crowded inside linebacker market has produced one big contract (the Bears’ Tremaine Edmunds pact) and a host of mid- or low-level agreements. While the legal tampering period has taken many off-ball ‘backers off the board, a few key names remain.

Denzel Perryman is one of the top options left, and he may end up deciding between two AFC South suitors. The Texans and Titans have shown interest in the veteran linebacker, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports.

Perryman hit free agency after two seasons with the Raiders. While those slates helped re-establish the former Chargers draftee’s value, his profile as a run-stopping linebacker — as opposed to a true three-down player with plus coverage skills — will impact his market. The 30-year-old defender logged a 70% defensive snap share last season. Pro Football Focus graded Perryman as a top-12 linebacker against the run, propelling him to a top-20 overall assessment.

The Panthers gave Perryman a multiyear deal in 2021, but he never ended up playing for them after a preseason trade to the Raiders. Gus Bradley, Perryman’s primary DC with the Chargers, put the former second-round pick to work quickly, using him on 83% of the Raiders’ defensive plays that season. Perryman finished the year with 154 tackles — far and away a career-high total — and helped Las Vegas rally to the playoffs despite a turbulent season.

The Raiders showed interest in a Perryman extension before the season, but nothing came to pass. They did circle back last month, though there is a real risk he departs now. The Titans have lost starters David Long and Zach Cunningham, though GM Ran Carthon is reuniting with ex-49er Azeez Al-Shaair. The Texans, who were also linked to Al-Shaair due to his DeMeco Ryans connection, but have not made a move at linebacker yet during the tampering period.

Houston has also shown interest in Mack Wilson, per Aaron Wilson. Mack Wilson spent last season with the Patriots, having been traded straight up for Chase Winovich, but logged 28 starts with the Browns from 2019-21. Houston is also interested in defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, Wilson adds, while also being in on centers Garrett Bradbury, Ethan Pocic and Jake Brendel, the latter of whom having ties to a few Texans coaches. But the center market has largely led to retention thus far. Bradbury, Brendel and Pocic have returned to their respective teams (Vikings, 49ers, Browns). The Texans are believed to be interested in former Lions center Evan Brown, however. The Detroit center/guard option has not signed anywhere yet; Brown has started 24 games over the past two seasons.

The Jets are trying to bring back Rankins, who has played for the team for the past two years. The Texans’ center interest stems from the team cutting Justin Britt, its two-year pivot starter. Britt is planning to retire.

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