MONDAY, 4:32pm: Hoyer’s release is now official, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
SUNDAY, 7:21pm: The Jets are likely to schedule a visit with Hoyer soon, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. Gang Green showed interest in the eighth-year passer last year and have been the most discussed suitor for Hoyer in 2016.
3:47pm: The Texans have released quarterback Brian Hoyer, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). As a vested veteran, Hoyer won’t have to pass through waivers, so he’s now a free agent and can sign with any club.
The news doesn’t come as much of a shock, as reports last month indicated that Houston was likely to part ways with Hoyer, either through trade or release. After the signing of Brock Osweiler to a four-year, $72MM deal, there wasn’t much of a role for Hoyer on the club, especially after the Texans also inked backup quarterback Brandon Weeden to a two-year deal.
Houston had reportedly been searching for a trade partner in an effort to deal Hoyer, and had been doing so right up until releasing him, tweets Rapoport. Reports indicated that Hoyer could be had for minimal compensation, but apparently no other club was willing to part with assets in order to land the veteran quarterback.
Hoyer won’t be without suitors now that he’s a free agent, however, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link) that the Steelers have expressed interest. Additionally, the Jets had inquired on Hoyer while he was still on the Texans’ roster, and they’re sure to still be intrigued even as they negotiate with Ryan Fitzpatrick. And the Broncos, who were said to be considering a run at Hoyer last month, make sense as a landing spot as they try to replace Osweiler and Peyton Manning.
The 30-year-old Hoyer posted the best season of his career in 2015, completing 60% of his passes for more than 2,600 yards while throwing 19 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. After leading the Texans to a 5-4 record in his nine starts, Hoyer’s streak of good play ended in the first round of the playoffs, when he threw four interceptions as Houston was shut out by the Chiefs.
Hoyer was entering the final season of a a two-year deal he signed with Houston prior to the 2015 season. He had no guaranteed money remaining, so the Texans will clear the entirety of his 2016 cap hit — about $4.86MM — off their books.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
This is a great, great day. Idc about flooding, this is great.
You would think with the amount of injuries at QB that this team has had that they would have kept him as a solid backup.
When you take into consideration the cap number to hold all three QBs (about $18 million) it doesn’t make sense. You bring up a really good point, but that $4.86 million could be used for another free agent or for their draft class.
They don’t need him, they have Weeden and Savage and frankly as much as I liked Hoyer and wanted him to succeed, it wasn’t meant to be.
Soo… Looks like he’ll be a Bronco right? I mean he’ll be as cheap as Sanchez probably cheaper.
They don’t need him since they have the other 2 guys, but I would have kept him instead of signing Weeden in the first place. They have an unproven starter, and you never know when you need a backup who can win a few games. Hoyer has at least proven to be a semi-competent starter, which is the most you can hope for in a #2.