The legal tampering period for free agency begins March 11 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time. The period is a two-day period of all 32 teams shaking their Christmas presents underneath the tree, wondering what they will get when the new league year begins March 13 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time.
The Houston Texans have needs that can be addressed in free agency, chiefly cornerback and the offensive line. Safety could become a need depending on what happens to Tyrann Mathieu. Even backup quarterback and defensive line are somewhat needs.
Another area that subtly needs attention is running back. However, Houston should not use free agency to upgrade the position.
At the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, Texans general manager Brian Gaine said that the club considers running back Lamar Miller, who is in the final year of his contract and will be 28 years old come Week 1, as their starting running back. Just the commitment the club is giving to Miller is a deterrent to any feature back that would want to come to Houston. Clearly the Texans view Miller as the chairman of the running back committee. Whether he is to be deposed by D’Onta Foreman is another matter.
Speaking of Foreman, the former 2017 third-round pick from Texas will be fully recovered from his torn Achilles that cut short his rookie season. That the club isn’t as keen on re-signing Alfred Blue is an indication that they believe Foreman can at least be a serviceable backup or a complement to Miller.
The club also thinks highly of Buddy Howell, who was on the practice squad last season. Now, it is unlikely that Howell will be anything more than a player who fights each week to be the 45th man on the game day roster, but he was a player that coach Bill O’Brien mentioned on Jan. 6 in his final press conference of the season as a player they are very high on at running back.
If Houston addresses running back, they need to find their role players in the draft, not use their war chest of $74 million to sign a complementary back.
