Houston Texans free agency 2018: Top 5 targets

3. Weston Richburg, C

Former team: New York Giants

One offensive lineman who is almost sure to hit the open market that the Houston Texans should be looking at is Weston Richburg.

The New York Giants are likely to let him walk with Barret Jones filling in well when Richburg was lost with an injury this past season. When healthy Richburg was one of the better centers in the league, on a weak Giants offensive line.

The 26-year-old former second round pick from the 2014 seems to be slipping under the radar due to finishing the season on injured reserve. Not only can he play center but has experience as guard as well. With current Texans’ center Nick Martin recovering from an injury himself, Richburg would allow the team to find a combination that works best. They would both serve as the backup center, a massively underrated position in the NFL.

As evident by the first three names on this list, protecting the face of the franchise, Deshaun Watson should be priority number one through three for this Texans team. Given their abundance of cap space, it should not be an issue. Even if they have to over pay for a guy like Richburg or Norwell, the risk of running out Watson behind a patch work offensive line is not worth it.

A player of Richburg’s caliber will not be cheap. However, his experience in a winning organization in New York and experience playing games (51 in four seasons, only four in 2017) will only help Martin and Watson. The young Texans could use a youthful veteran like Richburg to push the offensive line to the next level on more than just talent level.