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Houston Texans: 3 Moves team needs to make in 2019 offseason

By Caleb Pierson

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 23: Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans celebrates his touchdown with teammate wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins #10 against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on December 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 23: Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans celebrates his touchdown with teammate wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins #10 against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on December 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – DECEMBER 15: Defensive end J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans celebrates with his teammates after sacking quarterback Sam Darnold #14 of the New York Jets (not pictured) in the first quarter at MetLife Stadium on December 15, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – DECEMBER 15: Defensive end J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans celebrates with his teammates after sacking quarterback Sam Darnold #14 of the New York Jets (not pictured) in the first quarter at MetLife Stadium on December 15, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

After losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Houston Texans will be hoping to find the playoffs again. Here are three moves they need to make to do that.

The Houston Texans had a very up and down season in 2018. After starting the season 0-3, the Texans went on an amazing nine game win streak to bring their record to 9-3 and completely turn their season around. They were able to finish the season 11-5 and win the AFC South, making the playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons. Unfortunately for the Texans and their fans, they lost the Wild Card game at home against their division rival, the Indianapolis Colts.

The Texans still left plenty of reason for optimism heading into their future. They appear to have one of the leagues best quarterback-wide receiver combos in the league in Deshaun Watson and Deandre Hopkins. The duo connected for 1,572 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2018. Their star defensive end, J.J. Watt, was able to stay healthy and play a full 16 games for the first time since 2015 and finish second in the league in sacks with 16.

Despite all the reason for optimism, the Texans still have holes they need to fix in order to get back to the playoffs in 2019. Luckily for them, the Texans are projected to have the seventh most cap space and also have an additional second round pick to use in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Here are three things the Texans need to do this offseason to stay atop their division in 2019.

Sign a Safety in Free Agency

As I mentioned before, the Texans have the seventh most projected cap space in the league. I expect them to use this aggressively to fill their team needs that they may not be able to fill in the draft. Last offseason, the Texans gave safety Tyrann Mathieu a one -ear prove it deal. Mathieu finished the season as one of the leagues highest rated safeties and made a big impact on the Texans secondary that at times struggled in 2018.

Re-signing Mathieu would make a ton of sense for the Texans, as he proved his worth in 2018. However, there is a reason I think they should sign a safety, and didn’t just say to re-sign Mathieu. The 2019 safety free agent pool could be very strong.

With names like Landon Collins, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Earl Thomas, Lamarcus Joyner, Adrian Amos and many more who could be free agents this year, the Texans could potentially sign someone they feel fits them better and who may be cheaper than what Mathieu will want.

Luckily for Mathieu, he should be the team’s top preference being he already played for them for a season and showed first hand what he not only brings to the field, but as well as the locker room.

Regardless of which route they go, it makes the most sense for the Texans to utilize their cap space and sign a free agent safety, rather than try and draft one in a relatively weak safety class. Locking down another safety opposite of Justin Reid long term would be huge for this secondary.

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