NFL Rumors: 5 teams that should sign Everson Griffen

2. Houston Texans

As could have been expected when they traded away Jadeveon Clowney last offseason, the Texans struggled to get after the passer. They had just 31 sacks as a team, as J.J. Watt (pectoral) missed eight games and had four sacks (second on the team) while Whitney Mercilus led the team with 7.5 sacks. A secondary that struggled the hold up amid some injuries could have used more help from the pass rush,

Despite being a 4-3 defensive end over his career to this point, Griffen would be seem to be able to hold up moving to a more variable role in the base 3-4 scheme Houston seems likely to keep as Anthony Weaver replaces Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator. He would surely provide a much-needed force coming off the edge in the way he always has, while perhaps moving around a bit more than he has in Minnesota.

It’s no surprise that as Watt goes, so goes the Texans’ pass rush and the performance of the entire defense. Via Sarah Barshop of ESPN, Houston’s pass rush win rate was 44.3 percent (16th in the league) during the first half of last season. In the second half, after Watt was injured in Week 8, that rate fell to 25.4 percent (31st in the league). Mercilus also, as expected, had 5.5 of his 7.5 sacks when Watt was on the field.

The Texans may eat up a lot of their cap space ($64.27 million) retaining their own players this offseason, and head coach Bill O’Brien’s liberal dealing away of draft picks in his role as general manager means the draft won’t bring a lot of notable help early in the proceedings. If Griffen can be brought in on a reasonable deal, he has to be on the radar in Houston.