Houston Texans: 5 offseason needs in 2019

By Jon Dove | Feb 15, 2019

HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 30: Houston Texans offensive tackle Julie'n Davenport (70) walks up to the line of scrimmage during the football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans on December 30, 2018 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 23: Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Houston Texans walks on the field prior to the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on December 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles defeated the Texans 32-30. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Edge

There’s no doubt the Houston Texans would love to bring Jadeveon Clowney back on a long-term deal. However, he’s a young pass rusher who will command a lot of money on the open market. This complicates things and could push the Texans towards using the franchise tag.

How the negotiations between the Texans and Clowney play out will have a major impact on the entire free agent market. There will be plenty of teams waiting to pounce should Clowney actually become a free agent.

Losing Clowney would create an obvious hole with only Duke Ejiofor as an in-house replacement. Ejiofor has some potential, but not the upside to reach Clowney’s level.

The free agent market has some intriguing options such has Preston Smith, Za’Darius Smith and Shaq Barnett. Each of these players have shown promise but again wouldn’t come close to replacing Clowney.

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Some prospects the Texans could target in the draft are Florida State’s Brian Burns and Louisiana Tech’s Jaylon Ferguson.

It’s really hard to imagine the Texans allowing Clowney to hit the open market. The franchise tag was put in place just for this reason. Houston’s best option would be to use the tag and bring Clowney back for at least one more year.

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