How latest news impacts premier free agent's chances of landing with Texans

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The Houston Texans are coming off a breakout year which included a star being born in QB CJ Stroud, an AFC South championship, and a Wild Card round beat down of the Cleveland Browns.

The interest in the Texans hasn't been this high in years, and some top free agents are eyeing the Texans as their next landing spot.

Giants running back Saquon Barkley recently followed several Texans players on social media. Which should come as no surprise, who wouldn't want to join Stroud and the surging young Texans?

KPRC'S Aaron Wilson reported on Sunday night that Barkley's interest in joining the team is more than hitting like on social media. He's been in contract with Stroud and expressed an interest in playing in Houston (jump to the 3:45 mark in the video below).

The real question is, should the Texans want Barkley? While he's still a quality running back, he's not the same player as he was before some significant injuries.

He averaged below four yards a carry last season, but as Craig points out in the first video, his offensive line was the worst in football, according to PFF.

In fact, they only had 1 out of 5 players that were considered starting caliber. The Texans had 4.

So that alone should be working in his favor to bounce back this season.

The elephant in the room

The size of the contract he will command is the real issue. PFF projects he could be looking for a deal in the range of 3-years, $31 million. With him being 27 years old, the length of the contract does make sense.

Plus, it was announced on Friday the NFL is raising the salary cap to $255.4 million, an increase over 13%. That puts the Texans 7th in cap space per PFF.

The Texans have plenty of money to spend but also a lot of holes to fill on defense. The other thing to consider is whether Barkley is the top back on the market.

Adam Schefter is reporting no backs will receive the franchise tag, so Houston could have the pick of the litter in theory between Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, and Tony Pollard.

And bringing Devin Singletary back on a more affordable contract is also a possibility. We will learn a lot about the Texans backfield over the next two weeks when the legal tampering period begins on March 11.

Be sure to let us know what you would do in the comments!

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Jalen Green led the way for Houston! Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green scored 32 points ahd had 11 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 121-114 on Tuesday night.

Fred VanVleet shot 5 of 14 from the field, including 3 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 8 for 8 from the line to add 21 points. Tari Eason had 14 rebounds.

Dyson Daniels led the Hawks with 19 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and four steals. Trae Young added 19 points and 12 assists for Atlanta.

The Rockets took the lead with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter and did not give it up. The score was 65-48 by halftime, with Green scoring 14 points.

The Rockets led by 20 after three quarters. The Hawks pulled within 98-94 with 7:20 left after a 17-2 run.

The Rockets were outscored by the Hawks in the second half by 10 points.

Takeaways

Hawks: Atlanta had won three straight, but the Hawks made just 15 of 49 3-pointers against the Rockets — not what a team trying to avoid the play-in tournament needed.

Rockets: Houston strengthened its hold on the No. 2 spot in the West. With the win the 47-26 Rockets are now two games ahead of Denver, which was idle Tuesday night. Houston has won 10 of its last 11 games.

Key moment:

VanVleet mad 4 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds after Georges Niang had pulled the Hawks within 117-114 with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.

Key stat

Houston made 26 of 29 free throws.

Up next

The Hawks visit the Miami Heat on Thursday night. The Rockets play at the Utah Jazz the same night.

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