Justin Britt

Texans Release Justin Britt; C Expected To Retire

After nine years as an NFL offensive lineman, Texans center Justin Britt is expected to retire after being cut by Houston today, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Britt had spent most of the 2022 season on the team’s reserve/non-football illness list, only appearing in one game.

Britt began his career as a second-round pick out of Missouri and would start all 16 games for the Seahawks, who drafted him, at right tackle. After moving to left guard in his sophomore season, Britt was moved a second time to center, where he would remain for the rest of his career. A serious knee injury would end Britt’s 2019 season, at the end of which the Seahawks would release him.

After spending the 2020 season in free agency getting workouts with the Packers and Chiefs, Britt eventually signed with the Texans for 2021. He was named the starting center and started 11 games during his first season in Houston as injuries nagged at him throughout the year. After a 2022 season opener that had Britt disappointed in himself, Britt was placed on the NFI list for the remainder of the season. It was reported that Britt was “working through personal issues related to football as he (contemplated) his options.” It wasn’t difficult to decipher what was implied by those comments. After only appearing in 20 of a potential 66 games from 2019 to now, many speculated that Britt was preparing to hang up his cleats.

On the Texans’ side of things, the move to release Britt clears approximately $3MM in cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. After seeing Britt find the NFI list after Week 1, Houston turned to backup center Scott Quessenberry to start for the remainder of the season. Out of 36 centers that were graded for the 2022 season, Quessenberry ranked 36th in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). It wasn’t particularly close, either. With 35th ranked center Billy Price grading out with a 51.3 offensive grade, Quessenberry was a distant 36th with an offensive grade of 36.6. He held the league’s worst pass blocking grade (25.8) and run blocking grade (43.7) of any center in the league.

Quessenberry is set to hit free agency this year, leaving only Jimmy Morrissey, who began last season on the Texans’ practice squad, remaining on the roster. Houston may have to explore the free agent market for their next center. Veteran options Rodney Hudson and Jason Kelce should be hitting the open market this offseason. Kelce had a phenomenal season at 35 years old, while Hudson only played four games before being placed on IR. Both players contemplated retirement before the 2022 season. Jets center Connor McGovern had a strong contract year and Jon Feliciano, who switched to center last year for the Giants, should also be available. The Texans could also go the draft route for their next center with North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch, TCU’s Steve Avila, and Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz ranking as college football’s best draft-eligible centers, according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic.

Britt’s time in Texas was short-lived thanks to injury. He’ll be remembered as one of football’s grittier interior linemen after his career in Seattle and Houston. He leaves a tough hole for the Texans to fill.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/22

Today’s minor transactions:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Signed off Rams practice squad: DE Benton Whitley

Los Angeles Rams

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Kazee was suspended three games for violating the league’s policy on substances of abuse. After signing with the Steelers this offseason, he landed on injured reserve after the preseason. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor (on Twitter), Kazee will be allowed to serve his suspension while he’s on IR.

Hopkins was also suspended three games for violating the NFL’s policy on substances of abuse.

Latest On Texans C Justin Britt

Justin Britt will miss Sunday’s game due to personal reasons. The Texans center will be away from the team through the weekend, according to Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com. Britt was absent from practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

The veteran offensive lineman is “working through personal issues related to football as he contemplates his options,” per Wilson. Coach Lovie Smith refused to elaborate on the absence, but Wilson notes that Britt previously expressed disappointment in his own performance during Week 1. He got into 100 percent of his team’s snaps against the Colts, committing one false start penalty. He finished Week 1 with PFF’s second-lowest grade among centers, although he did score positively for his pass-blocking. At 31 years old and with more than 100 career games (including playoffs) under his belt, it’s not too hard to read between the lines of this report and infer that Britt may be contemplating his playing future.

After spending the first six seasons of his career with the Seahawks, Britt joined the Texans last offseason. He started each of his 11 games during his first season in Houston, missing a handful of contests thanks to a knee injury.

With Britt out of the lineup, Scott Quessenberry will step into the starting lineup against the Broncos. The team also has Jimmy Morrissey on the practice squad, and guard Justin McCray has past experience playing center.

“It’s just the next-man-up mentality,” Quessenberry said (per Wilson). “Always prepare like you’re the starter and like you’re going to play every snap of the game. Be ready for the unexpected. Just going to go out there and play hard-nosed football and try to finish every play and play hard and play to the whistle and give everything I’ve got for the four other guys out there. It feels good. I’ve played in this league before and this won’t be the last time I play in this league.”

Texans To Re-Sign C Justin Britt

Justin Britt completed a successful comeback season in 2021, and the Texans plan to bring him back. Houston is re-signing its starting center, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.

This will be Britt’s fourth contract. While it does not measure up to the deal the Seahawks gave him in the late 2010s, it is a raise from his previous Texans pact. Houston is bringing Britt back on a two-year, $9MM accord, ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson notes (on Twitter). Britt, 30, played for one year and $3.2MM in 2021.

[RELATED: Texans To Release Marcus Cannon]

The former Seahawks multi-position starter was not with a team in 2020, after having suffered an ACL tear in October 2019. But he worked as the Texans’ primary center last season. Britt will have a chance to reprise that role in 2022. The Texans may have some new parts up front, but they will try to run back the Britt-Davis Mills center-QB tandem.

A second-round pick back in 2014, Britt started 11 games for the Texans. He sustained a hyperextended knee during the season but returned to close out the year for his second NFL team. The longtime Seahawk said earlier this year he wanted to return to the Texans. While Britt has experience at guard and right tackle, he has settled in at center, having played there since 2016.

Justin Britt Wants To Stay With Texans

This wasn’t exactly a banner season for the Texans. But, on an individual level, Justin Britt enjoyed a bounce-back year. Now, with free agency on the horizon, the veteran center says he wants to stay in Houston. 

[RELATED: Texans GM Search Tracker]

I had a blast this year,” Britt said (via Aaron Wilson of Sports Talk 790). “This is kind of everything I would want other than wins. Coming to work every week with this group of guys and to see how we grew and the steps we took, would I come back here? Yeah, if everything was right and the way it needed to be, I would love to come back here and be around these men again.”

Britt missed all of 2020 with a torn ACL, leading him to settle for a one-year, $5MM deal with the Texans. He was mostly solid for them this past year, providing steady veteran leadership in a young and disorganized locker room. It stands to reason that the Texans would want him back, though they’ll have to take a good look at the injured knee that cost him several games this year.

For his part, Britt wants to stick around for the Texans’ next head coach, whoever that may be. He’s also hoping that the new hire retains offensive line coach James Campen.

I love James Campen,” Britt said. “If I could have it my way, I’d want to play for him for the rest of my career. He was someone who literally made every day enjoyable. The games we got shut out, didn’t score, we’d show up the next day and he would make those meetings enjoyable, which throughout a long season like this, it pays dividends and keeps your mental health in check…You don’t go down a rabbit hole, you just keep grinding, keep working. He’s someone like that who motivates his players and he knows this. I’ve told him this.”

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/29/21

Several key players returned to practice Wednesday. Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Rico Bussey

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/23/21

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/4/21

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Texans Designate Justin Britt For Return

The Texans are designating Justin Britt for return from injured reserve, according to Aaron Wilson of SportsTalk 790. This will jumpstart a 21-day practice window for the center, allowing him to return after several weeks on the sidelines.

Britt has been out since Week 7 thanks to a handful of maladies, including a hyperextended knee. Between that and last year’s ACL tear, he’s played in just six regular season games since the end of the 2019 campaign.

The Texans signed Britt to a one-year, $5MM deal earlier this year, installing him as their first-string center. Through six games, he’s earned a so-so overall grade of 61.4 from Pro Football Focus, positioning him as the No. 22 ranked middle man in the NFL. The hope is that he’ll come back stronger after a month of rest and replicate some of his early work with the Seahawks.

To date, Britt’s rookie season in 2014 (71.7 overall score) and 2016 (81.6) stand as his best, per PFF. That ’16 campaign slotted him as the seventh-best center in the league and propelled him to a three-year, ~$27MM extension in 2017.

Without Britt, the Texans have used ex-Raiders practice squader Jimmy Morrissey as their starting center. If goes well for Britt this week, he could resume his starting role on Sunday against the Jets.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/30/21

Here is the Week 8 Saturday minor move blitz:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets 

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team