The Houston Texans took a chance and claimed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2016 first-round cornerback Vernon Hargreaves off waivers.
Now, the 24-year-old could become a salary cap casualty if the Texans decide they need to free up space to allocate elsewhere.
According to Pat Yasinskas of the Touchdown Wire, Hargreaves would be one of 13 big names who would be cap casualties in the 2020 offseason.
Picked up off waivers from Tampa Bay during the 2019 season, Hargreaves’ production didn’t match his salary. The Texans can clear $9.9 million against the cap by cutting him. The former first-round pick probably has to join a new team at a bargain rate and reinvent himself if he ever is going to get another big contract.
Hargreaves played six games for the Texans, starting in two of them, and collected 21 tackles, a tackle for loss, and two pass breakups. Houston took a chance on Hargreaves because the cornerback stable was so depleted from injuries that they needed to take action just to get to a point where Bradley Roby, Johnathan Joseph, and rookie Lonnie Johnson would be able to return from injury and provide depth and talent at the position.
What the former Florida Gator has going for him is youth, as he will be 25 years old once the regular season kicks off. However, it will have to depend on where the Texans want to go with their cornerback group that will determine if they keep Hargreaves.
Currently, they have Johnson, Keion Crossen, Gareon Conley, Anthony Chesley, and Cornell Armstrong under contract. Aside from Conley and Johnson, the Texans cornerback group doesn’t have top level talent on the roster, and Hargreaves would at least provide the potential to have more.
The new league year kicks off on March 18. The Texans have plenty of time until then to decide what they want to do with Hargreaves.