Texans To Sign TE O.J. Howard

4:53pm: The Texans and Howard have struck a deal, according to ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter). The former Buccaneers first-rounder will become by far the most experienced tight end on the Texans’ active roster.

3:04pm: O.J. Howard‘s Bengals visit has not produced an agreement yet, and the defending AFC champions added a tight end (Devin Asiasi) via waivers on the same day they met with Howard. The former first-round pick remains in search of a third NFL team.

The Texans are looking into adding the former Buccaneers and Bills pass catcher. The rebuilding AFC South team is meeting with Howard on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The sixth-year tight end is taking a physical at Texans headquarters.

While this sounds similar to the Howard-Cincinnati development, the Texans are thinner at tight end. The team used the waiver wire to add a Davis Mills complementary weapon (ex-Howard teammate Tyler Johnson). Now, a late free agency addition may further boost the second-year quarterback’s receiving corps.

If Howard signs in Houston, he will join Jordan Akins among tight ends to join the team. Though, the former Texans tight end is back on a practice squad agreement. Those now regularly turn into elevations to the 53-man roster, but the Texans still feature an uncertain crop at this spot.

Houston let Akins depart in free agency and re-signed Pharaoh Brown. Midway through training camp, Lovie Smith took the step to declare the veteran the team’s starter. Brown, however, has never topped 200 receiving yards in a season. The team also has 2021 fifth-rounder Brevin Jordan and rookie fifth-rounder Teagan Quitoriano. The latter, however, will miss at least four games after being placed on IR this week.

The No. 19 overall pick in 2017, Howard was faring decently with the Bucs during his first two seasons (997 combined receiving yards, 11 TDs). But he never seemed to catch on under Bruce Arians. After Tom Brady‘s Tampa arrival preceded a Rob Gronkowski reunion, Howard became an afterthought in the Bucs’ offense. Following a 2020 Achilles rupture, Howard did not regain much of a role in the team’s passing game. Howard played 17 games but only totaled 135 receiving yards and one touchdown. The Bills did not see enough from a player they guaranteed $3.5MM in training camp, leading him to this spot.

But the Texans would appear to offer a chance for Howard, 27, to re-establish the form he displayed in Dirk Koetter‘s offense years ago. (Although Koetter worked under Smith in Tampa, the current Texans HC was gone by the time Howard arrived.) Will this lead to a deal? Houston’s attempt to acquire Adam Shaheen in a trade from Miami failed, but it still looks like the rebuilding team’s position could use bolstering — for Mills’ sake, if nothing else.