Tag: Houston Texans 2024

Texans sign rookie DE Solomon Byrd

Solomon Byrd has officially agreed to terms with the Houston Texans and will be headed to rookie minicamp under contract.

The Houston Texans welcomed nine new players to the roster via the 2024 NFL draft last month. Six have signed their rookie contracts ahead of Friday’s minicamp, including USC defensive end Solomon Byrd.

Byrd and the Texans agreed to terms on a four-year deal worth $4.12 million with a roughly $100,000 signing bonus, according to KPRC2 Sports’ Aaron Wilson.

Byrd, the Texans’ seventh-round pick, should compete with former TCU standout Dylan Horton as the team’s No. 5 pass-rusher behind Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, Denico Autry, and Derek Barnett.

After spending four seasons at Wyoming, Byrd elected to transfer to USC for his final two years of eligibility. In 2023, he led the Trojans with 11 tackles for losses and finished third among all FBS players with four forced fumbles.

In 12 games, Byrd had 49 tackles and six sacks. He also earned an honorable-mention All-Pac-12 selection in 2023.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar is high on Byrd’s upside as a situational pass-rusher for the Texans in 2024, naming him Houston’s top ‘sleeper pick’ of the draft.

This offseason, the Texans got that much closer to a Super Bowl defense by adding Danielle Hunter to their edge-rush profile with a two-year, $49 million contract with $48 million guaranteed. Hunter is a perfect complement to Will Anderson, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the year, as Hunter’s game is about speed and bend, while Anderson is all about power to the pocket.

To double down on that speed/bend thing, Houston also selected USC end Solomon Byrd with the 238th pick in the seventh round. That pick could pay off far past its value. Last season for the Trojans, the Wyoming transfer totaled seven sacks and 41 total pressures on 320 pass-rushing reps. There’s not much to say about Byrd as a run defender, but then again, the Texans probably won’t line him up inside 20% of the time in 3-man fronts as the Trojans did for whatever reason.

With Byrd, you put him on the outside in a rotation and let him hunt… or you let him use his formidable gap quickness on stunts and games. No reason to overthink it. – Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar 

Texans owner Cal McNair drops photo to confirm new ‘H-Town’ helmet

Houston Texans owner Cal McNair made sure to drop one of the coldest photos online when confirming the new “H-Town” logo.

If you’re someone waiting for a confirmation on the latest Houston Texans logo and ‘H-Town’ helmet, owner Cal McNair just gave you the answer.

After a user posted a five-second video of a helmet on X (formerly Twitter) that fits the criteria of what the H-Town design was supposed to encapsulate, McNair elected to steer into the skid, posting a photo to social media wearing a hat with the new logo.

And just to add a bit more fun to the photo, McNair made sure his dog, Tex, was dressed up too, wearing a chain with the new “H” to confirm that new look.

Fans had mixed reviews on the helmet when the post surfaced. Some thought it was an upgrade over the previous bull logo that’s been the only design since the inaugural season back in 2002. Others weren’t as pleased as initially thought when the franchise announced last offseason it would be getting new threads for the 2024 campaign.

The helmet has a Deep Steel Blue undertone with a light blue “H” to represent “H-Town” as the primary logo with a red outline. The uniform itself has yet to be unveiled, so maybe the combination could actually end up living up to the expectations that fans envisioned from the jump.

The team’s X account got in on the fun, acknowledging the leak a few hours after it first surfaced on social with a leaky faucet GIF.

This isn’t the first time McNair and the organization have handled damage control of a leak. Last month, another user posted a photo of one of the models sporting the away jersey at the private unveiling for several fans who were given a sneak peek.

McNair took to Reddit to confirm the new look, posting a more crisp design of receivers Tank Dell and Nico Collins wearing the uniforms instead. The away designs feature the traditional Liberty white jerseys and Deep Steel blue pants.

The Texans still have two full uniforms and another jersey to release next Tuesday. One can only hope at this point there are no more surprises leading up to the launch of a new era of Houston football.