Houston Texans free agency 2019: Top 5 targets

New York Giants SS Landon Collins

The Houston Texans received a quality season from Tyrann Mathieu, who certainly proved that he still has it after signing a one-year contract with the new AFC South champions last offseason. Mathieu will be looking for a bigger deal elsewhere, and if the Texans want to create a great safety duo for years to come, they might want to consider adding a younger and even more dynamic safety than Mathieu. (And yes, that is possible.)

Landon Collins is the best playmaker at the safety position in the NFL, at least statistically. Compiling three seasons of data, Collins has the most tackles and defensive stops at the position.

There might not be a better strong safety in this league than Collins, who has been a natural leader for the New York Giants since joining the organization. Of course, that means the Giants, reeling after a horrendous 5-11 campaign, must do whatever they can to keep Collins. It also means that if Collins slips into the free agent waters, he’d be the biggest catch at safety – even more so than Earl Thomas and Adrian Amos.

Collins also fits the Texans. They’d have money to spend, and they already have their free safety of the future in Justin Reid, who somehow (*cough* Eric Reid is his brother *cough*) slipped into the third round last year. Reid has looked every bit like a building block for this Texans defense, intercepting three passes and defending 10 in total as a rookie.

As Reid continues to make strides, he and Collins, still just 25, could be huge standouts for a Texans defense that finished 18th in the NFL last year in net yards per pass attempt allowed. With the edge-rushing duo of Clowney and Whitney Mercilus hopefully intact behind J.J. Watt, the Texans could force even more than 29 turnovers (fourth in the league) they did last year. Turnover differential was a key to Houston’s success last season, and Collins could be an impact player in that department.