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At 3 p.m. CDT today, your Houston Texans—and every other NFL team—can officially sign free agents from teams other than their own. Until then, they can do their best to sling woo at targeted players with the hopes of getting them to put pen to paper at NRG Park.
When tampering became league-sanctioned on Monday, the Texans were linked to Nate Solder, Malcolm Butler, Zach Fulton, and/or E.J. Gaines. As of the time I’m writing this post, the Texans have not closed the deal (at least publicly) with any of those gentlemen, and Butler has allegedly chosen to come to terms with the Titans instead. Houston has, however, reportedly reached agreements with Aaron Colvin and Seantrel Henderson to address the glaring deficiencies in the secondary and along the offensive line. By no means will Texans fans be pleased if those are the only two free agent signings of note this offseason, and I’m confident Brian Gaine isn’t done buttressing his roster before the 2018 NFL Draft begins next month.
Let’s see if more names leak out or, better yet, one or two of the rumored targets becomes reality. We’ll have a separate thread when free agency officially opens at 3 p.m. CDT. In the meantime, kindly leave any news, rumors, or other applicable fiddle-faddle in the comments below.
UPDATE: The Texans are still in the Nate Solder sweepstakes.
One free agent to watch today: #Patriots LT Nate Solder. As of last night, it sounded like #Giants or #Texans… and there wasn’t a lot of optimism that he’d return to New England.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2018
UPDATE II: Though not yet official, the much rumored Fulton-to-Houston deal looks to be nearing completion.
The #Texans are expected to sign interior OL Zach Fulton, formerly of the #Chiefs, to a deal that averages roughly $7.5M per year, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2018
Nothing done yet, but Texans still expected to land Chiefs offensive lineman Zach Fulton. Would provide a boost to an offensive line in major need of some new blood.
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 14, 2018
UPDATE III: Zach Fulton is now a member of your Houston Texans.
UPDATE IV: Break out the mourning whiskey, Texans fans.
The #Giants are expected to sign former #Patriots LT Nate Solder, source said. They get their franchise left tackle. Huge get.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2018
UPDATE V: Adam Schefter with the chaser, confirming the terms of Nate Solder’s deal with the Giants (though I’d still like to know how much of the $60 million is guaranteed).
Giants are expected to give former Patriots’ LT Nate Solder a four-year, $60 million deal, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2018
UPDATE VI: Here are the complete terms of Solder’s deal with the Giants. Knowing that’s what it cost to acquire Solder, are you upset the Texans didn’t offer more (admittedly, I’m speculating they didn’t; it’s possible they did and Solder simply preferred New York)?
UPDATE VII: Tyrann Mathieu is now looking for work, and J.J. Watt is interested in placing him in Houston.
Come on over bro @Mathieu_Era
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 14, 2018