Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Houston Texans
By Kenn Korb
We’ve begun a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. Next up: the Houston Texans.
The NFL offseason is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. An exciting Super Bowl ended the 2017 playoffs with a bang only a few ago, but it isn’t long until we see 2018 truly begin. Only a few weeks away is March 14, the beginning of free agency. Now is the time to figure out who is worth pursuing for and from every team in regards to the Cincinnati Bengals.
We’ve already gone through the postseason participants from this past season and who Cincinnati should look at coming off of their rosters. But now the focus is switching to the teams that sat out of the playoffs.
We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, and Indianapolis Colts. Now we finish the AFC South, with a player from the Houston Texans.
Eddie Pleasant, S
The safety position for the Bengals entered 2017 with a decent starting pairing at the helm. George Iloka and Shawn Williams have been somewhat underrated in discussions and rankings for the position group league-wide, and despite dealing with injuries (to themselves and throughout the defense) they both ended up with decent showings for the season anyway. They aren’t dynamic stars, but you can have a consistent, strong unit with these two as the main cogs at safety.
The depth at this position needs to be elevated, however. By both choice and force, Cincinnati found themselves relying on a host of options who were woefully unready to make a positive impact. Josh Shaw was abysmal in a larger role. Clayton Fejedelem was alright in coverage but weak against the run. Those two combined for 930 snaps last year; Pro Football Focus Edge graded them as 37.5 and 63.7 in their respective efforts. Give those snaps to superior options, and an already good defense (when healthy) becomes more malleable and capable of surviving issues caused by injuries.
The Texans’ roster actually has a couple options worth pursuing at the position: Marcus Gilchrist and Eddie Pleasant. With numerous safety options already under contract and heaps of needs elsewhere on their roster, there’s a good chance neither of these two players ends up returning to that team; if Cincinnati could take advantage of this situation to add one of them to their own safety mix, they would be fortuitous.
But which one should be added? That depends on what you expect the team is looking for in a new safety addition.
While they’ve been in the league about as long as each other, Gilchrist has played more than four times as many snaps as Pleasant (5,272-1,150). With more playing time, the former has a clear advantage in nearly every box score statistic on the latter. Gilchrist is also consistent against both against the run and in coverage, while Pleasant can be taken advantage of on run plays.
For Cincinnati’s purposes though, Pleasant may be the answer they turn to. While his total usage is much lower across his career, his per-snap impact is better across the board. Prorate his snap count and stats to those of Gilchrist, and his career numbers would be either similar or larger than what Gilchrist has managed to accomplish. You see it with tackles (Gilchrist: 439; Pleasant prorated: 531.8), sacks (4 to 11.5), forced fumbles and recoveries (5/1 to 4.6/4.6), interceptions (11 to 13.8), and pass knockdowns (32 to 78).
In terms of role, Pleasant is the most likely choice for Cincinnati as well. Assuming health, Iloka and Williams will get 900+ snaps next year. That still would leave 500+ snaps for the hybrid nickel corner/safety role — still significant, but not quite a starting-level amount. Pleasant, who has never surpassed 400 snaps in a given year, could be reasonably expected to fill the role.
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The biggest plus in Pleasant’s favor though is his likely cost. Gilchrist has held starting roles for pretty much his entire career, with the 622 snaps he got in 2012 easily being his lowest total from 2012-17; that role comes with a higher cost. He was making $5.5 million per year on a contract with the Jets starting in 2015; after getting cut, he signed last offseason with Houston for $3 million for the year. Pleasant is coming off a contract that barely paid him $1 million/year and has never held a huge role for a team; he may get a raise with whoever signs him, but it likely will still end up amounting to less than what Gilchrist can expect.
When looking at all the possibilities and variables, Pleasant is the overall better choice for Cincinnati, and the team would be wise to pursue him.