INDIANAPOLIS — The Houston Texans had a busy week at the NFL Scouting Combine. They weren’t just evaluating the 2020 NFL Draft class; they were meeting with the representatives of their own free agents to see where things stand before free agency opens on March 18.
Here is a list of the players whose representatives met with the Texans per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
1. LT Laremy Tunsil
If the Texans gave up two first-round picks and a second-rounder in 2021 just to get two seasons out of the Pro Bowl left tackle, it would be a waste. Tunsil will make around $10.4 million in the final year of his rookie contract. The Texans will want to extend him. The goal for Houston is to work towards his extension and then move on to quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is now eligible for a new deal.
2. DT D.J. Reader
The Texans weren’t able to reach an extension with Reader during the 2019 season. Now, given he was a Pro Bowl alternate with his 52 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and six tackles for loss in 15 games, the Texans will have to pay the price or watch him go to another club when free agency opens.
3. RB Carlos Hyde
If the Texans are talking with Hyde’s representatives at the combine, it means they want to score a team-friendly deal with him before free agency starts. The former San Francisco 49ers 2014 second-round pick earned his first 1,000-yard season of his career with Houston in 2019. Hyde would rather stay and play for a winner for once. However, he will be 30 years old during the 2020 season, and age could be a factor.
4. TE Darren Fells
It would be an understatement to say the 33-year-old had a career year with the Texans. Fells caught 34 passes for 341 yards and seven touchdowns, all career bests. The 6-7, 270-pound tight end was a big red zone target and adapted well to quarterback Deshaun Watson’s improvisation inside the 20-yard line. Like Hyde, age could be a deterrent.
5. LS Jon Weeks
The Pro Bowler has provided clean snaps for the Texans since he arrived in 2010. At 34 years old, he is still in his prime as a long snapper. Unlike the other positions on the team, long snapper is one where youth hardly plays a factor. Weeks still has the skill and ability to keep the Texans’ special teams operations clean.
6. K Ka’imi Fairbairn
For the first six weeks of the season, it appeared that Fairbairn wasn’t going to return to the Texans in 2020. He had missed four extra points and three field goals. However, Fairbairn rebounded and went 96.0% on his extra points, missing one, and then posted an 87.5% field goal percentage, missing just two. The former UCLA Bruin finished with an 80.0% field goal percentage, the same as his rookie season. Fairbairn should be invited back, but Houston should also not hesitate to upgrade if he starts to slump again.
7. RB Taiwan Jones
Jones was a valuable special teams player, and he only carried nine times for 40 yards and caught a 9-yard pass in the regular season. The return of Jones could come down to whether or not special teams coordinator Brad Seely wants him. Jones was a key part of making sure the transition phase of Houston’s game went smoothly.
8. OLB Barkevious Mingo
Part of the trade that sent Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 31, Mingo played predominantly special teams for the Texans. The former Cleveland Browns 2013 first-round pick collected six tackles on defense and started in one of his 16 games for Houston.
9. CB Phillip Gaines
Gaines was actually decent for Houston in his first seven games of the season as he recorded 13 tackles, a tackle for loss, and broke up two passes. Gaines was part of the Texans’ reserves at cornerback when Johnathan Joseph and Bradley Roby succumbed to hamstring injuries in Week 6. However, after starting two games, Gaines got injured against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7 and his season was over. That also led to the Texans trading with the Oakland Raiders for former 2017 first-round cornerback Gareon Conley.
10. LB Dylan Cole (restricted free agent)
Cole was a valuable member of the Texans’ special teams unit, earning captaincy in 2019. The former 2017 undrafted free agent from Missouri State played 11 games for Houston before landing on injured reserve. The Texans know what they have in Cole, both as a special teamer, and also as an agile inside linebacker that can spell Zach Cunningham and Benardrick McKinney.
