Roderick Johnson

Texans To Re-Sign T Roderick Johnson

Despite changing regimes this offseason, the Texans will bring back one of their offensive line regulars. They will re-sign Roderick Johnson, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. The sides agreed to a one-year deal Saturday.

A four-year veteran tackle, Johnson has been with the Texans since 2018. The former Browns draft pick started three games for the Texans last season and played 25% of the team’s offensive snaps. Nick Caserio, who has been quite active in adding low-cost outside free agents in his first free agency period as a GM, will keep Johnson in the mix.

This marks the second straight offseason in which Johnson has re-signed to stay in Houston. He spent the 2017 with the Browns but did not play in any games. The Texans claimed him in summer 2018, and although Johnson appeared in just one game that season, he saw action in all 16 for the 2019 Houston edition. Overall, Johnson has started six games with the Texans.

The Texans will likely have Johnson compete for a backup job. Caserio turned to his former employer for help at this position earlier this offseason, acquiring longtime Patriots starting right tackle Marcus Cannon via trade. Johnson and Cannon join starters Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard in Houston’s 2021 tackle mix.

Contract Details: Mayo, Patriots, Bailey

A handful of contract details to pass along:

  • LB David Mayo, Giants: three-year extension. $8.4MM deal, including $3.5MM guaranteed. Salaries: $1.5MM guaranteed (2020), $2.25MM (2021), $2.5MM (2022). Via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter.
  • WR Damiere Byrd, Patriots: one year, $2.5MM. $1MM base salary, $350K signing bonus, $900K in receptions incentives. Via ESPN’s Field Yates on Twitter.
  • S Adrian Phillips, Patriots: two years. Deal worth up to $7.5MM, $3MM guaranteed, $1.5MM signing bonus. Can earn up to $4MM in 2020. Via Yates on Twitter.
  • K Dan Bailey, Vikings: re-signed. Three-year deal worth up to $12MM. $5MM guaranteed, $3.15MM signing bonus. Via Yates on Twitter.
  • OL Joe Looney, Cowboys: signed. One-year, $2.4375MM deal. As Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets, one of the new CBA’s veteran benefits is that the deal will count $1.25MM less on the cap than it would have last season.
  • OT Shon Coleman, 49ers: one-year extension. Worth $962.5K, including $825K base salary and $137.5K signing bonus. Via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter.
  • DB Jaylen Watkins, Texans: signed. Two-year deal worth $3MM, per Wilson.
  • OT Roderick Johnson, Texans: re-signed. One-year deal worth $1.75MM, per Wilson.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/20/20

Today’s running list of minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Released: P Ryan Allen (this is only a procedural move and Allen is expected to be re-signed shortly, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.)

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/18/20

Tuesday’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below. Deals will be updated throughout the day.

RFAs

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

AFC South Notes: Texans, Robinson, Colts

Rumblings about the Texans attempting a last-ditch Jadeveon Clowney trade have cooled down, with the team unlikely to recoup too much value for the three-time Pro Bowler after the franchise tag extension deadline passed (and with Clowney being able to effectively block a trade by virtue of not signing his tender). The last report on Clowney’s return indicated he was expected to report back between the start of next week and the end of the preseason. Clowney also has a grievance rumored, seeking to be tagged as a defensive end ($17.1MM) instead of as an outside linebacker ($15.9MM). But the former No. 1 overall pick should be fighting to ensure the Texans cannot tag him again in 2020, Joel Corry of CBS Sports writes. However, with this prohibition clause having not occurred since 2008 (Albert Haynesworth with the Titans), Corry predicts the sixth-year Texans edge defender will fail on this front and end up being tagged again in 2020.

Here is the latest news from the AFC South, shifting to a player who will draw Clowney blocking assignments this season:

  • Recently deemed iffy for Week 1, Cam Robinson appears a good bet to suit up against the Chiefs in two-plus weeks. The Jaguars‘ left tackle starter took snaps with the first unit in the team’s third preseason game, with Phillip Heilman of The Athletic tweeting Robinson joined the likely starting line of Andrew Norwell, Brandon Linder, Will Richardson and Jawaan Taylor on Thursday night. Robinson tore one of his ACLs in September of last year and spent the next several months rehabbing.
  • D’Onta Foreman will not have a chance to exact any revenge on the Texans this season, with the now-Colts running back set to miss the season. But the Colts still have him in their plans. A torn biceps will shelve Foreman, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets, but the team will not opt for an injury settlement. The Colts plan to stash the former third-round pick on IR and have him learn their system in time for a hopeful 2020 debut in Indianapolis.
  • While Matt Kalil was recently named the Texans‘ starting left tackle, Wilson adds that Roderick Johnson is “firmly” in the conversation to start against the Saints in Week 1. The Texans have held Kalil out of recent practices for conservation purposes, per Bill O’Brien. Kalil missed all of last season with a knee injury. Encouraging work in games and practices has allowed Johnson, a former Browns fifth-round pick and Texans waiver claim, to improve to the point of being a first-stringer. The Florida State product appears set to receive the first crack if Kalil cannot go, pointing to first-round rookie Tytus Howard staying at left guard.
  • Titans running back David Fluellen underwent knee surgery recently, but Paul Kuharsky (of PaulKuharsky.com) notes the backup is expected to be ready by Week 1. Fluellen is expected to keep his job as Tennessee’s No. 3 back.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/8/18

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

New York Jets

Texans Waive T Roderick Johnson

Roderick Johnson had already been on waivers twice this year, when the Browns cut him in June and when the Texans waived him following training camp.

However, Houston stashed the second-year tackle on its practice squad after cutting him following the preseason slate. The Texans could have a similar plan in mind after Thursday’s decision to waive Johnson. Houston parted ways with the 2017 fifth-rounder again, sending him to the waiver wire.

Johnson rose to the active roster when Seantrel Henderson was placed on IR after Week 1. But he has not been active for a game this season.

The now-John Dorsey-led Browns made Johnson one of their many Sashi Brown-era castoffs. The Florida State product resided as one of four backup offensive linemen on the Texans’ roster. This transaction will slash that number to three for the time being.

Texans To Shift Seantrel Henderson To IR

Texans starting right tackle Seantrel Henderson won’t have a chance to reprise that role for the rest of this season. Expected to be out for the year after a Week 1 ankle injury, Henderson will spend his season on IR.

The Texans made that procedural move Tuesday. But instead of bringing aboard one of the veteran tackles the team worked out earlier today, Houston will promote tackle Roderick Johnson from its practice squad, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.

Johnson arrived in Houston via offseason trade, one of a many moves the John Dorsey-era Browns made to ship Sashi Brown-era draft picks out of Cleveland. The Texans then stashed the 2017 fifth-rounder on their practice squad. They’ll now begin to see what they have in the trade acquisition. Johnson has yet to play a regular-season snap.

The Florida State alum will slot in behind recent third-round picks Julie’n Davenport and Martinas Rankin. Kendall Lamm also represents possible tackle depth on Houston’s roster, and the Texans will again have eight offensive linemen on their active roster after bringing up Johnson.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC South

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Texans, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Houston Texans

Claimed:

Cut:

Placed on injured reserve:

Practice squad:

Indianapolis Colts

Claimed:

Cut:

Placed on injured reserve:

Practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Practice squad:

Tennessee Titans

Practice squad:

* = practice squad exception