Dec 11, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz (86) runs after the catch against the Houston Texans during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Texans sign RB Devin Singletary, TE Dalton Schultz

The Houston Texans added to their offense by signing free agent running back Devin Singletary and tight end Dalton Schultz to one-year deals, multiple reports said Monday.

Singletary signed a contract worth up to $3.75 million, ESPN reported, and Schultz’s deal will be worth up to $9 million, according to NFL Network.

Singletary, 25, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills and was their full-time starting running back for the past three. In 2022 Singletary started all 16 games he played, ran for 819 yards on 4.6 yards per attempt and scored six total touchdowns (five rushing).

In 61 career games (56 starts), Singletary has 3,151 rushing yards (4.7 per carry), 16 rushing touchdowns, 145 receptions, 971 yards and four receiving TDs.

Schultz, 26, had been the Dallas Cowboys’ starting tight end since 2020 and spent his first five pro seasons with the club. In 15 starts last season, he caught 57 passes for 577 yards and five touchdowns.

In 75 career games (51 starts), Schultz has 211 receptions for 2,122 yards and 17 scores.

–Field Level Media

Nov 20, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (78) on the field before the game against the Washington Commanders at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Texans trade Brandin Cooks, re-sign Laremy Tunsil

The Houston Texans are trading wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Dallas Cowboys for draft picks, NFL Network and ESPN reported Sunday.

The Texans will receive a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and a sixth-round selection in 2024, per the reports. The Texans also are expected to pay $6 million of Cooks’ $18 million guaranteed contract to facilitate the trade, per KPRC2 in Houston.

Houston also re-signed Laremy Tunsil to a three-year, $75 million deal that once again makes him the highest-paid left tackle in NFL history, according to NFL Network.

Tunsil, 28, who represented himself, secured a contract that includes a $30 million signing bonus, $50 million fully guaranteed and $60 million in total guarantees, per the report.

Tunsil earned his third Pro Bowl selection in 2022 and started all 17 games. He has 94 starts in seven seasons with Houston and the Miami Dolphins (2016-18), who drafted him 13th overall in 2016.

Cooks, 29, caught 57 passes for 699 yards and three touchdowns in 13 starts with the Texans in 2022.

A six-time 1,000-yard receiver, Cooks has 630 career receptions for 8,616 yards and 49 touchdowns in 132 games (120 starts) with the New Orleans Saints (2014-16), New England Patriots (2017), Los Angeles Rams (2018-19) and Texans. The Saints drafted him with the 20th pick in 2014.

Cooks replaces Noah Brown in Dallas. Brown, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Texans earlier this week, had 43 catches for 555 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games (13 starts) in 2022.

–Field Level Media

Aug 12, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (98) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Texans, DT Sheldon Rankins reach 1-year deal

The Houston Texans agreed to terms on a one-year, $10.5 million contract with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.

Rankins, 28, has spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets. He will now head to a Texans team in transition under new coach DeMeco Ryans.

Rankins recorded a career-high 43 tackles to go along with three sacks and one forced fumble in 15 games (all starts) with the Jets in 2022.

He has totaled 191 tackles, 23.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 94 career games (51 starts) with the New Orleans Saints and Jets. He was selected by the Saints with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

–Field Level Media

Dec 25, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Shaq Mason (69) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Buccaneers to ship OG Shaq Mason to Texans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Shaq Mason will be traded to the Houston Texans when official league business allows the transaction on Wednesday.

The deal was first reported as a possibility last week by The Athletic and multiple outlets on Tuesday said both sides were in agreement. NFL Network reported that the Buccaneers will receive a sixth-round draft pick and the Texans will get a seventh-round selection along with Mason.

Tampa Bay saves $5 million under the salary cap, helping to create cash to bring back free agent cornerback Jamel Dean.

Mason, 29, is in the final year of his contract and would have counted $9.5 million against the Buccaneers’ cap in 2023.

A fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech, Mason started his NFL career with the New England Patriots (2015-2021) and was traded to the Buccaneers prior to the 2022 season. He has 115 career starts in 120 NFL games.

The Texans also agreed to terms on a one-year deal with wide receiver Noah Brown, per the Dallas Morning News.

Brown, 27, set career highs with 43 catches for 555 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games (13 starts) in his fifth season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022.

–Field Level Media

Nov 13, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Case Keenum (18) warms up prior to the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Texans bring back QB Case Keenum on 2-year deal

The Houston Texans are reuniting with quarterback Case Keenum, signing the journeyman to a two-year contract worth $6.25 million, multiple reports said Monday.

The agreement reportedly includes $4 million guaranteed and can increase to $8.25 million with incentives.

The deal will not be official until Wednesday, the first day of the new league year.

Keenum, 35, is a Texas native who played collegiately at Houston before joining the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He spent the first two seasons of his 10-year NFL career with them, starting 10 games and throwing for 2,195 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight picks.

Keenum went on to find jobs as both a starter and a backup for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2015-16), Minnesota Vikings (2017), Denver Broncos (2018), Washington (2019) and Cleveland Browns (2020-21) before spending 2022 backing up Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills.

The Texans own the No. 2 pick in next month’s NFL draft and are widely expected to select a franchise quarterback of the future to join Keenum in the QB room.

Houston also reached an agreement with edge rusher Chase Winovich on a one-year, $2 million deal, NFL Network reported. Winovich tweeted a goodbye to his 2022 team, the Cleveland Browns. The soon-to-be 28-year-old has 12.0 sacks in 53 career games but just one over the past two seasons.

–Field Level Media

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Robert Woods (2) drives into the end zone for a touchdown past Dallas Cowboys linebacker Damone Clark (33) during the third quarter at Nissan Stadium Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.

Nfl Dallas Cowboys At Tennessee Titans

Reports: WR Robert Woods agrees to deal with Texans

Wide receiver Robert Woods is headed to his third team in three seasons, as he agreed to a two-year, $15.25 million deal with the Houston Texans, NFL Network and ESPN reported on Friday.

The deal reportedly features a $10 million guarantee but could top out at $17 million.

Woods was with the Los Angeles Rams in their Super Bowl-winning 2021 season, but he sustained a season-ending knee injury in November of that campaign and missed the playoffs.

He was dealt to the Titans in March 2022 and played all 17 games for Tennessee last year, making 15 starts. Woods caught 53 passes for a career-low 527 yards and two touchdowns, but Tennessee cut him last month.

Woods, 30, broke into the NFL as a second-round pick of the Bills in 2013. He spent four seasons in Buffalo and then five seasons with the Rams.

In 142 career games (130 starts), Woods has 623 receptions for 7,604 yards and 37 touchdowns. He also has 507 rushing yards and five scores on 74 carries.

–Field Level Media

Jan 2, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA;  San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) reacts after defeating the Houston Texans at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Confessions of Texans OC: Jimmy G on Houston’s radar

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik showed his cards on Wednesday, confessing the QB-craving franchise has interest in soon-to-be free agent Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo would need no introduction to Slowik, hired to run the offense for new head coach DeMeco Ryans, considering the complete triumvirate spent last season together with the San Francisco 49ers. Ryans and Slowik arrived in tandem as defensive quality control coaches in 2017.

Garoppolo, 31, was with the 49ers for six years but ended last season on injured reserve, and durability questions might cloud other options.

But Houston could offer more than a landing spot. The Texans, who have the No. 2 and No. 12 picks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, could offer Garoppolo a chance to compete for a starting job with Davis Mills.

Slowik said Wednesday that the Texans are walking through their QB evaluations and Garoppolo is “obviously part of that process.”

“He’s going to be a free agent,” Slowik said of Garoppolo. “We grind through that as a coaching staff. We grind through that in the personnel department. We have conversations. I have conversations with (GM) Nick (Caserio). He has conversations with DeMeco. And then Nick and DeMeco kind of put their heads together and lay out a plan and what we want to do going forward, and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Ryans and Caserio said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine that they are impressed with the draft class at quarterback.

Caserio was an undersized college quarterback at John Carroll, shorter than Bryce Young. Ryans, himself an Alabama product who was a second-round pick due to his 4.65 40-yard dash time, might take a surprising road to fixing the QB spot based on their background.

Young, the Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama and a national champion with the Crimson Tide, is expected to be the top pick in the draft, even at 5-feet-10, 206 pounds. If not Young, the Texans could have their pick of multiple quarterbacks from a list that includes Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson.

Slowik and Ryans also have the recent experience of watching seventh-round pick Brock Purdy lift the 49ers into the NFC Championship Game in a climb that began as an unheralded rookie.

“I would point to the end of last year. We had Mr. Irrelevant who did one heck of a job, played for us in San Francisco and took us all the way to the NFC Championship game,” he said. “So, I think how you structure the entire thing — offense, that includes defense, that includes special teams — everything plays a hand into how it all goes together.”

–Field Level Media

Aug 25, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA;  Houston Texans long snapper Jon Weeks (46) walks off the field after the win against the San Francisco 49ers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Texans LS Jon Weeks signs one-year contract

Houston Texans long snapper Jon Weeks signed a one-year contract on Thursday.

Financial terms of the deal were not announced by the team, however multiple media outlets reported the contract is worth $1.65 million.

Weeks, 37, is the Texans’ longest-tenured player. He has played in a franchise-record 210 consecutive games since joining Houston in 2010.

Weeks was named to the Pro Bowl in 2015.

–Field Level Media

Dec 31, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA;  Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31) pressures Kansas State quarterback Will Howard (18) causing an interception during the 2022 Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome. Alabama defeated Kansas State 45-20. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama OLB Will Anderson Jr. meets with Bears, ready to attack combine

To borrow a phrase from his college coach, Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. didn’t come this far to come this far.

Anderson, regarded a surefire top-five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has had meetings with the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Those teams own the top three picks in the draft.

“The culture is great there. I can tell they’re onto something special,” Anderson said of his time with the Bears in an interview that took place in a hotel room in the city.

Anderson also said he had was “very excited” about his session with the Texans, who hold the No. 2 pick.

“It means a lot — it just shows all your hard work has been paying off,” Anderson said.

Anderson played outside linebacker in the Alabama 3-4 defense and wasn’t asked to play with his hand in the dirt out of a three-point stance often. He’s been training at defensive end and outside linebacker, and said most teams classify him as an “edge” player with the versatility to rush the passer at either position.

Just 21 years old, Anderson had 10 sacks in 2022 while facing double-team blocks more than 80 percent of passing plays. He had 34.5 career sacks, the kind of production that will get general managers on campus. The Bears and Texans were both on the ground in Tuscaloosa during the 2022 season, but that’s not a rarity for the football factory run by coach Nick Saban.

Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter and Anderson are the top-ranked defensive players in the draft. Anderson tapped the left side of his chest when asked what made him the best of the bunch.

“What you have in here. That’s what carried me to this point in my life. … I feel like what I bring to the table, just consistency, being humble,” Anderson said. “Whatever culture I’m in, I’m going to do things the right way. I think that’s what sets me apart.”

Anderson considers himself a student of the game and has studied former Bears linebacker Khalil Mack, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa to polish his pass-rush arsenal.

Saban said last month that Anderson and prospective No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young separated themselves at Alabama through their constant competitiveness and football character.

Anderson said Wednesday that’s a big reason he’ll be participating in workouts with linebackers on Thursday. For the record, Young isn’t in the quarterback workouts, preferring to host scouts and general managers at his pro day this month.

“I’m super excited,” Anderson said. “All the work has been good.”

Anderson has found comfort during the Indianapolis speed-dating trial that is the combine, thanks to 13 total Crimson Tide players being on the invite list for the event.

Young, Anderson, linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and safety Brian Branch all rank in the Field Level Media Top 50, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs also could be drafted in the first two rounds.

–Field Level Media

Aug 5, 2022; Houston, Texas, US; A general picture of a Houston Texans helmet after training camp at the Texans practice facility.  Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Texans to hire Bobby Slowik as OC

The Houston Texans are hiring Bobby Slowik as their offensive coordinator, NFL Network reported Sunday morning.

Slowik and new Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans spent the past six seasons together with the San Francisco 49ers.

Former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury also interviewed with the Texans for the role of offensive coordinator. The position was vacant after Houston opted against retaining Pep Hamilton after finishing 31st in total offense (283.5 yards per game) and tied for 30th in scoring offense (17.0 points) last season.

Slowik, 35, began his NFL coaching career as a video assistant and defensive assistant with the Washington franchise from 2011-13. He later joined the 49ers as a defense quality control coach in 2017 before becoming an offensive assistant in 2019.

Slowik was promoted to San Francisco’s offensive passing game specialist in 2021 and named the passing game coordinator in 2022.

–Field Level Media