WEDNESDAY, 5:23pm: The Texans officially announced the signing of Hoyer.
12:45pm: The Texans have completed their two-year deal with Hoyer, tweets Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle.
11:52am: Hoyer’s deal will be a two-year pact worth $10.5MM with $4.75MM guaranteed, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 12:54pm: Agent Joe Linta tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link) that Hoyer’s deal isn’t done yet, which may signal that he could land elsewhere, or may just mean that the Texans and Hoyer’s camp are trying to avoid the NFL’s wrath on early agreements.
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweets that he expects the Texans to take their time to make the deal official, since the league is “all over” teams about reaching deals prior to the start of free agency. Houston may even have Hoyer in for a visit, says McClain.
10:48am: Hoyer will sign with the Texans after all, per Schefter and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Caplan notes (via Twitter) that the Jets were insistent on getting their shot at Hoyer, but the veteran quarterback ultimately decided on Houston.
MONDAY, 9:33am: While Hoyer is still expected to land in Houston, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com and Brian Costello of the New York Post both report (via Twitter) that the Jets haven’t given up yet.
8:48am: The Texans are expected to add a free agent quarterback to the roster as soon as teams can officially sign players tomorrow, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, who reports (via Twitter) that the club intends to sign Brian Hoyer. Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 Washington first reported this morning (via Twitter) that Hoyer would be a Texan.
While it sounds like the Texans and Hoyer have reached a verbal agreement, nothing’s official yet, and according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Jets were expected to make a push for the former Browns signal-caller today. Pat McManamon of ESPN.com also tweeted that the Jets were set to make a last-ditch offer, but both ESPN scribes acknowledged that Hoyer would likely end up in Houston.
Hoyer, 29, saw his first extended run as a starter in 2014, and though his overall numbers – including a 55.3% completion percentage, 12 touchdowns to 13 interceptions, and a 76.5 passer rating – weren’t overly impressive, he led the Browns to a 7-6 record in his starts before giving way to Johnny Manziel and Connor Shaw near the end of the season.
Despite his winning record, Hoyer didn’t receive much interest from the Browns this offseason, as the team opted instead to bring in former Buccaneers starter Josh McCown. So, rather than returning to Cleveland to compete again with Manziel, Hoyer will be reuniting with Bill O’Brien, who coached him during his years with the Patriots.
The Texans also continue to move toward a new deal with Ryan Mallett, and the team plans on bringing in both veteran free agent signal-callers, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. With Case Keenum and 2014 draftee Tom Savage also under contract for the 2015 season, it sounds like there could be a wide open competition for the Texans’ starting job, and perhaps for the No. 2 and No. 3 roles as well.
Hoyer’s new contract with the Texans will likely be for three years, tweets Breer.