Leave it to Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio to find creative ways to get underneath the 53-man roster limit by Aug. 31.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Texans are trading defensive end Shaq Lawson to the New York Jets.
On Aug. 6, coach David Culley said that Lawson fit what the Texans were looking for as a defensive end in defensive coordinator Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme.
“He’s quick,” Culley said. “He has great movement. He’s got a great first step. Lovie loves that in those guys at that position. He plays with good leverage, and he’s got good hands, and basically what we teach all those guys to do, he has that.”
The Jets are sending a sixth-round pick — the one obtained in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers — to Houston.
Lawson originally came to the Texans as part of a trade in mid-March where Houston sent Pro Bowl linebacker Benardrick McKinney and a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Lawson and a 2021 sixth-round pick.
The Texans have Jonathan Greenard, Whitney Mercilus, Jacob Martin, DeMarcus Walker, and Jordan Jenkins as defensive end. Charles Omenihu also has inside-outside flexibility to play defensive end.