Tag: Texans safety

Breaking down Texans S Eric Murray and his restructured contract

The Houston Texans restructured their contract with safety Eric Murray. Here is a look at the details.

The Houston Texans carved out some salary cap space with the restructuring of safety Eric Murray’s contract.

Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV was able to obtain the details of the restructured contract.

Murray’s salary cap hit goes from $5.357 million in 2023 to $3.887 million. The Texans gave Murray a $650,000 signing bonus.

Murray has a $1.6 million base salary with $1.476 million guaranteed. The 29-year-old gets up to $250,000 per game in active roster bonuses along with an additional $1.5 million in playtime incentives with a $2.5 million base value.

The former Kansas City Chiefs 2018 fourth-round pick had 27 combined tackles through 17 games last season. Murray saw his snaps shift from defense to special teams — 119 to 403 — due to the rise of second-round rookie Jalen Pitre.

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Flashback: The time Jimmie Ward fought DeAndre Hopkins at Texans-49ers joint training camp

@GallantSays produced flashback footage from Jimmie Ward and DeAndre Hopkins face off at Texans-49ers joint training camp in 2018.

 

The Houston Texans agreed to terms with former San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmie Ward during the legal tampering period of free agency.

The Texans are adding a defensive back who has been with the 49ers since 2014 when he was a first-round pick, which means Ward predates DeMeco Ryans’ rise through the ranks as a coach. Spending 2017-22 with the 49ers and going from defensive quality control to defensive coordinator, Ryans was able to see the value Ward brought to a secondary.

Ward was also a part of the 49ers during the club’s joint training camp with the Texans in mid-August 2018 at Houston Methodist Training Center. On Aug. 15, Ward and then-Texans wideout DeAndre Hopkins got into a fight, and ESPN 97.5’s Paul Gallant shared the footage on his YouTube channel.

Hopkins spoke on the incident the day after and didn’t take the scuffle with Ward personally.

Said Hopkins: “Not much. A little scuffle. Basically a little game of tic-tac-toe. It’s football. That’s my friend. That’s football. It’s nothing more than us just out here playing football.”

The Texans are hopeful Ward still has some of the same attitude with him as he returns to Kirby Drive to help Ryans complete the rebuild in Houston.

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Breaking down the Texans’ contract with S Jimmie Ward

Here is a look at the contract details from the Houston Texans’ deal with former San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmie Ward.

The Houston Texans found a new centerpiece to their talented young secondary when they signed veteran defensive back Jimmie Ward on Tuesday.

His contract is reportedly worth a maximum of $14.5 million over two years with a $13.5 million base salary. It is unclear exactly how much of this deal will be paid out via bonus to limit his impact on the Texans’ salary cap, but Spotrac is reporting that the number could be as high as $8.5 million.

The initial details of this contract were reported by Adam Caplan of SiriusXM and the Fox Sports Radio Network on Twitter. The team has yet to acknowledge the signing on social media, but fans are already getting excited at the prospect of having Ward patrolling the Texans’ secondary with Jalen Pitre and Derek Stingley.

Ward played for nine seasons as a member of the San Francisco 49ers and will get his start in the Lone Star State with a rebuilding Houston team that desperately needs the experience to lift their up-and-coming defense.

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Texans restructuring the contract for safety Eric Murray, clearing over $700K in salary cap space

The Houston Texans are restructuring the contract for safety Eric Murray to clear over $700,000 in salary cap space.

NFL contracts have triggers in them that teams can flip to create salary cap space, and that is precisely what general manager Nick Caserio did to give the Houston Texans a little more breathing room.

According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the Texans restructured the contract for safety Eric Murray, providing $732,500 in salary cap space.

What the Texans did was give Murray a $1.465 million signing bonus in order to create the space.

Houston originally signed Murray to a two-year, $10 million contract at the beginning of last free agency.

The rise of second-round rookie Jalen Pitre cut into Murray’s playing time. The 29-year-old played all 17 games for Houston, and delivered 27 combined tackles. However, his snaps were lopsided in favor of special teams: 403 to 119 on defense.

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Breaking down the Texans’ 2-year contract with S M.J. Stewart

Here is a look at the two-year contract safety M.J. Stewart signed with the Houston Texans.

The Houston Texans re-signed safety M.J. Stewart to a two-year contract ahead of free agency.

According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the maximum value of the contract is $7.5 million over two years. $3 million of the contract is guaranteed, and the 27-year-old received a $1.5 million signing bonus. The $1.5 million salary is guaranteed while the $2.5 million salary is not.

Stewart is also eligible for $250,000 maximum per game in active roster bonuses annually. The Arlington, Va., native can earn $750,000 in annual playtime incentives.

What Stewart brings to the Texans is more than just another body on the backend. The 5-11, 200-pound defensive back is also a key cog on special teams.

“M.J. has played a lot of football in the league,” former safeties coach Joe Danna said on Dec. 8, 2022. “Anytime you take one of your best special teams players, you’re seeing them make plays in those areas, special teams and defense, lot of correlation there. Just felt like he was deserving to get out there and be able to play some snaps.”

With Frank Ross returning as special teams coach, he will have a player on the roster who knows how he likes to coordinate the transition phase of the game.

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CBS Sports sees S Jonathan Owens as Texans’ free agent they ‘can’t afford to lose’

Jonathan Owens has been a staple in the Houston Texans’ secondary, and CBS Sports believes they can’t afford to lose him in free agency.

There have been very few constants for the Houston Texans since 2019, but one of them has been Jonathan Owens.

The former 2018 undrafted safety has played 31 games for Houston over the past four seasons, starting in 19 contests. The 5-11, 210-pound defensive back had his most productive year in 2022 with 125 combined tackles, 1.0 sack, one quarterback hit, and four pass breakups through 17 starts.

According to Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports, Owens is the one impending free agent the Texans can’t afford to let go.

The Texans have been shuffling spare parts with all their cap space ever since Nick Caserio took over, so it’s no surprise they don’t even have premium pieces to retain. Owens, 27, is an intriguing low-risk, high-reward safety, however, after a fifth-year breakout as a full-time starter. His 125 tackles ranked second on a young but occasionally feisty defense.

The challenge for Owens would be whether or not he could fit in with new coach DeMeco Ryans’ system. However, Owens went through a few changes in defenses with the Texans. In 2020, he went from playing Romeo Crennel’s style of 3-4 defense to new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s attacking style modeled after Rex Ryan’s schemes with the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets in the 2000s. In 2021, Owens went from the 3-4 to Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2, which the Texans played for the past two years and at least gave Owens some consistency.

If Owens was able to adapt to those changes, then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue for him to adjust to Ryans’ system.

What may convince Houston to let Owens walk is if they believe he could stop the progress of any young safeties on the roster, or if the Texans believe they need to draft a younger, blue-chip prospect to pair with Jalen Pitre.

Owens has utility as a special teamer with 253 such snaps over his career. Despite playing 971 defensive snaps, Owens still found a way to contribute in the transition phase of the game with 71 special teams snaps.

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Texans safety Jalen Pitre expected to breakout in 2023

Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre is expected to have a breakout season in 2023 according to Pro Football Focus.

Jalen Pitre made an impression in 2022.

The Houston Texans’ 2022 second-round pick from Baylor led the team with 147 combined tackles, 99 of them solo, and had five tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, 1.0 sack, a fumble recovery, eight pass breakups with five interceptions.

According to Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus, Pitre is the Texans’ representative in his breakout candidate list for all 32 teams, even though he had a 54.7 PFF grade his rookie year, largely due to his missed tackles over the span of 17 starts.

The Texans’ rookie safety led the NFL in a very undesirable category this year — missed tackles.

With 36 of them, he missed eight more than any other player in the NFL, but that accounts for a huge amount of his negative play overall, and he showed plenty of positive to his game.

Pitre missed the same number of tackles in his entire college career as he did in his rookie season, so there is good reason to expect that to clear up going forward.

Former coach Lovie Smith compared Pitre to former Texans safety Justin Reid, who returned to NRG Stadium in Week 15 when the Kansas City Chiefs visited.

“He has a great intellect for the position just like Justin does,” said Smith. “He knows how important it is to take the football away. He’s getting more and more comfortable back in his position. I think he’s (Jalen Pitre) going to be a great player in our league for a long period of time.”

Reid was a constant on lists relating to breakout candidates or potential Pro Bowlers, but it never manifested during the former 2018 third-round pick’s four-season career in Houston — partly due to the changes in schemes and responsibilities over the years.

If Pitre could get a coaching staff that allows him to flourish, the Stafford High School product could breakout in 2023.

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Texans safeties coach defines how S Jonathan Owens is still a ‘young’ player

#Texans safeties coach Joe Danna explains how safety Jonathan Owens is still a relatively young player in the NFL.

It may be hard to fathom, but the Houston Texans’ defensive coaches view Jonathan Owens as a young player.

Although Owens has been in the NFL since 2019, he has only logged 19 games with seven starts to his ledger. In terms of a regular season, he has one regular season and two games under his belt.

Texans safeties coach Joe Danna detailed how Owens can still be viewed as s young player despite being 27 years old and in his fourth season.

“He’s young from the sense that he hasn’t played a lot,” Danna told reporters Thursday. “He’s a hungry player. He wants success in the worst way. He’s a sponge, he studies, and our whole group does.”

Owens has tallied 46 combined tackles and two pass breakups through five games, all of which he has started. The former 2019 undrafted free agent from Missouri Western is part of a safeties group that brings concepts learned in the classroom to the practice field.

Said Danna: “We’ve got a great room. He’s just a guy, you can’t give him enough information. He wants to study and he wants to be a great player.”

Owens’ 46 combined tackles are still the third-most in the NFL among defensive backs despite Houston being on a bye during Week 6.

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WATCH: Texans S Jalen Pitre gets first career interception

Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre got his first career interception when he picked off Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields in Week 3.

Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre got his first career interception in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears.

With 2:55 to go in the first quarter, Pitre fielded an overthrown pass by quarterback Justin Fields as he was looking for tight end Cole Kmet. Pitre fumbled the takeaway, but quickly on top of the ball to retain possession for the Texans.

The Texans picked Pitre in the second round from Baylor. The No. 37 overall pick, who is also an alumnus of nearby Stafford High School, has been a key piece of coach Lovie Smith’s revitalized Tampa 2 scheme. Houston fans are hopeful this is the first of many picks for the rookie.

Texans rookie S Jalen Pitre considered for CBS Sports’ all-53 NFL roster

Houston Texans rookie safety Jalen Pitre earned recognition as one of the NFL’s best at the position by nearly making CBS Sports’ all-53 roster.

The only competition wherein “close” counts is in horseshoes. However, how close Jalen Pitre came to making an all-NFL list is worth mentioning.

CBS Sports released their all-53 man NFL roster. The premise is to look at the entire NFL and pick the best at each position in order to comprise a 53-man roster — much the same way teams had to do last week when finalizing their rosters after preseason.

While CBS Sports did not identify who among their eight voters checked the box, Houston Texans rookie safety Jalen Pitre did receive a vote to be included on the all-53 roster. Ultimately Derwin James, Kevin Byard, Jessie Bates, and Jevon Holland made the cut.

For Pitre to get that type of consideration despite playing just three preseason games indicates the talent level the Baylor product is bringing to coach Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme. The Texans aren’t as nationally followed as they were even two years ago; therefore, Pitre garnering that type of attention without the team having any kind of spotlight on them indicates how well he has played in the exhibition phase of the year.

First-round cornerback Derek Stingley did not get the same consideration, but Smith did include the LSU product when talking about how the young defensive backs have adapted quickly to his system.

“They’ve picked up everything quickly,” Smith told reporters Aug. 29. “We’ve been pretty basic on what we’ve done in the preseason, but with everything else, that’s what I’ve seen from them. They’re football guys. They’re hungry. A lot of rookies are hungry and our rookies really are. Just don’t think we’re going to be limited with what we do with them. I don’t think we’re going to have to adjust what we like to do based on the amount of rookies that we play.”

If the Texans are able to play to their full potential on defense with Pitre making plays, he shouldn’t be snubbed from too many more lists.