The legal tampering period begins March 11 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time for the Houston Texans and the other 31 NFL teams. Here are four free agents whose representatives the Texans ought to call as soon as the tampering period begins.
1. CB Justin Coleman
Coleman spent two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks after he went undrafted out of Tennessee and caught on with the New England Patriots in 42015. Coleman produced an interception, 10 pass breakups, a forced fumble, two recoveries, one returned for a touchdown, and 0.5 sacks to go along with 55 combined tackles. Coleman will be 26 years old in the 2019 season and will be a nice upgrade age wise at the corner spot. Signing Coleman would allow the Texans to think about the offensive line with the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
2. OT trent brown
Brown played for the New England Patriots in 2018. Why not see if he would like to play for the Patriots South? As the old saying goes: Can’t win if you don’t bet. Houston needs offensive line help, and they wouldn’t be doing their due diligence if they didn’t at least find out what Brown’s asking price was. The 6-8, 380-pound left tackle would be a part of the solution to fixing quarterback Deshaun Watson taking 62 sacks in 2018.
3. S Landon Collins
The Texans have to have a backup plan at safety in case Tyrann Mathieu doesn’t come back to the team. If that happens, why not check out another former LSU Tigers safety in Collins? The former 2015 second-round pick for the New York Giants has been a three-time Pro Bowl in each of his last three seasons. While 2018 was hardly a meritorious season for Collins, perhaps the culture of losing bogged him down. A change of scenery worked wonders for Mathieu in 2018. The same could happen for Collins, but only if Houston loses out on bringing back Mathieu should they court Collins on March 13.
4. QB Robert Griffin
Griffin is in a much better place in his career. He doesn’t have to save a dysfunctional franchise from itself. He isn’t rushing back from injury. He is seasoned, wise, knows the expectations of carrying a franchise as the club’s first-round pick, and is comfortable being a backup. Griffin would be the blending of a strong veteran presence in the quarterback room like they had with Brandon Weeden while at the same time having a backup who could bring some measure of athleticism Deshaun Watson has. Griffin is a hero in Copperas Cove, played his college ball at Baylor, and would probably enjoy playing out his final NFL seasons in Houston as Watson’s backup.
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